I don't own the Harry Potter series, all rights go to J.K. Rowling.
Grim Defeat
The Gryffindors were all sent to the Great Hall to wait until for further instruction. They stood around and gossiped about what had happened. Ella filled her friends in on what she'd seen of the portrait. Everyone seemed a little frightened by the knowledge that Sirius Black had been in the castle and attempted to break into Gryffindor Tower. Ella feigned her fright, but deep down she was livid at the bloody idiot for trying to do something so stupid. Entering the castle in the middle of a feast and slashing a portrait?
She was going to strangle him when she saw him next.
Ten minutes passed before Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin joined the Gryffindors in the Great Hall. Everyone looked either confused or annoyed –Malfoy seemed to be both. The hall fell silent as Dumbledore began giving orders.
"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he told the room. Percy looked very proud and Ella noticed Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall had closed all of the doors. "Send word with one of the ghosts. –Oh, yes, you'll be needing…"
Everyone watched in awe as Dumbledore casually flicked his wand to make the tables move towards the walls. Another motion made hundreds of purple sleeping bags appear. The hall was amazed by the ability to create so many of something, and a nonverbal spell too. Ella was torn between her fascination and fright. It'd be a night where if she fell asleep she could wake up the entire student body with a blood curdling scream.
He grinned, "Sleep well." And with that he was gone.
"Ella!"
"Ella, what happened?"
Cho and Cormac came rushing over to her to the shock of all Ella's friends. Ella stood frozen wondering what had just happened. There had been an unspoken agreement to only be friends inside of Divinations. Why were they ruining that?
Fred gained his tongue faster than Ella, "What do you want with Ella, McLaggen?" His tone was biting but McLaggen, who was much burlier than Fred, stood his ground.
"I thought what we wanted was clear, Weasley. We thought she'd be able to tell us what happened," he argued. Fred's ears had turned red and McLaggen's face was slowly turning the same color.
"Why would Ella want to talk to the likes of you?" George spat coming to his brother's aid.
"Knock it off, all of you!" Ella snapped moving to be in the middle of their row. "He wants to know because we're friends."
"WHAT?" Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Lee, Fred, and George all shouted at once.
Lee looked flabbergasted by the very thought, "Why would you want to be friends with him? He's a prat!"
Fred nodded vehemently, "He is, and he's insulted George and I."
"Look, I know he's a prat," Cormac made a motion as if to interrupt, "no, you are. He's very egotistical, but he and Cho are the only things that make Divinations bearable. You lot don't seem to realize that you've all got friends in your classes because you all take the same classes and are all in the same year. Katie and I are the only two in our year of this group of friends so when she chose Muggle Studies and I decided on Divinations, we both lost the one person we always spent classes with! I bet you anything that Katie has made at least one other friend to hang around during Muggle Studies."
All eyes turned on Katie who admitted, "There's a really nice girl from Hufflepuff in my class. Her name's Leanne. We've been friends since last year just in that class, though."
Ella looked at her friends, "See? We have to make other friends when we're in those classes. Which would you rather: my being alone or being an acquaintance to McLaggen?"
Percy's voice broke off their conversation, "Everyone into their sleeping bags! Come on, now; no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!" The entire group grabbed their sleeping bags and Cho moved back to her Ravenclaw friends.
"I think it's fine, maybe Ella will rub off on him," Angelina said with a pointed look towards the boys. George looked slightly ashamed as did Lee, but Fred kept his glare fixed on Cormac. McLaggen's heated gaze never drifted from Fred either.
McLaggen kept close and Ella noticed with a sinking feeling in her stomach that Fred moved to be slightly further away from her than he would've normally. She was upset, but also angry at him for being so childish. What was he so worried about? He and George were obviously still her best friends so what would her minor friendship with Cormac have to do with that? All around them, people were making the most ludicrous guesses about how Sirius disguised himself.
"The lights are going out now!" Percy shouted sternly. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!" Every candle in the Great Hall simultaneously went out. Ella crawled into her sleeping bag and stared up at the starry ceiling above her. Sleeping in the Great Hall wouldn't be so bad –she couldn't actually sleep, but she could at least look at the sky.
Fred watched her warily with a racing mind. First Diggory, now McLaggen? Was she trying to make him go mad with jealousy? What was she even playing at with being friends with McLaggen? She was much better than the likes of him! What if she expected him to be friends with McLaggen? That would never happen in a million years. He hated how fast his heart was pumping and how much it hurt to let his mind wander to whether she liked McLaggen as more than just a friend. The possibility could've been there for all he knew, but it hurt to think about.
While everyone else dozed off shortly after the lights went out, Ella stayed lying on her back and staring at the night above her. The inky darkness seemed to span on forever. It was a slightly comforting visual for Ella. She watched above her knowing that there was a great amount of unknown above her and she didn't have to have all the answers to the world.
"Ella, what are you doing awake still?" Percy whispered kneeling beside her.
She propped herself up on her elbows and softly replied, "I can't sleep in here, if I sleep I'll have a nightmare."
Percy frowned, "I don't think you should stay awake all night, you'll be awfully tired for classes tomorrow."
"If I do fall asleep and have a nightmare, I'll wake up screaming like I do nearly every night. I don't want to wake the rest of the hall. They'll panic –they'll believe Sirius Black murdered someone."
He sighed, "All right, but maybe you should go to Madam Pomfrey in the morning instead of class. If you don't have a difficult morning schedule then you could go rest there until after lunch."
"Thanks, Percy," Ella said with a small smile. He returned an equally small one before returning to his patrols. There was very little noise until three in the morning when Dumbledore returned.
"Any sign of him, Professor?" Percy whispered in the hall. Only a few snores could be heard, Ella assumed nearly everyone was asleep. Ella held her breath hoping Sirius wasn't caught.
"No. All well here?"
Percy responded, "Everything under control, sir." Ella felt like Percy was channeling his inner solider at this point.
"Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow."
"And the Fat Lady, sir?"
"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her," Dumbledore explained to Percy. Ella huffed in her mind. What had Sirius been thinking? Well, obviously, he hadn't been.
The door creaked open and Snape entered, "Headmaster? The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."
Dumbledore questioned in return, "What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"
"All searched…"
Dumbledore released a sigh, "Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."
"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape sounding bitter.
"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the other," Dumbledore's eyes flicked her and they held each other's gaze for a split second. Ella got the distinct impression that the Headmaster wanted to question her knowledge on the event.
Snape went on to say, "You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before –ah –the start of term?" Ella's eyebrows rose wondering what Snape's theory was. Surely, not the truth?
There was a warning laced in the Headmaster's voice, "I do, Severus."
Without care for the warning, Snape continued, "It seems –almost impossible –that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concern when you appointed –" Ella's eyes widened at the insinuation that Lupin was the one aiding Black.
"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," Dumbledore said with a tone the shut Snape's side of the conversation down. Ella felt slightly guilty at the statement knowing that she was helping Sirius. She didn't help him enter Hogwarts, that was probably Crookshanks, but she had fed him before and talked to him. In a way, she was breaking Dumbledore's trust but, Ella reminded herself, it was for good reason. "I must go down to the dementors. I said I would inform them when our search was complete."
"Didn't they want to help, sir?" Percy questioned him.
Dumbledore said in a stone cold tone, "Oh yes, but I'm afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster."
Percy looked abashed, but Ella had to agree with Dumbledore. Those dementors were too frightening to allow on the school grounds in general. If Percy had the same experience as she or Harry did, he'd understand why creatures like that shouldn't exist. Ella looked back up towards the ceiling and shifted deeper into her bag.
Her eyelids drooped, but she forced them open once more. She couldn't afford to fall asleep. The only people who knew what it was like to be in a room with her and her nightmares was Katie and the other Gryffindor fourth year girls. Ella couldn't imagine the horror that her fifth year friends would face if they were to hear the results of these dreams. They'd got a dose of it her second year when her curse had reacted with her vision of Quirrell, but they really didn't have a clue that she dealt with something like that every night. The twins –well, they had never seen something like that from her before. Even if they were mad at her, she assumed they'd still be worried –or she hoped they would be. Her eyes slid a little farther; she couldn't fight it much longer.
Ella stood inside a House. If she looked out the window, she'd see she was on the second floor, but Ella wasn't taking in her surroundings. A mother cradling her child in fear was what held her attention. The woman with long red hair and frantic green eyes had attempted to barricade the doors to the room. It was all blasted away, though, and she dropped the baby with a mop of black hair into the crib.
A man Ella had only seen in her worst nightmares appeared in the doorway. His red eyes were narrow slits and this woman threw her arms out wide to guard the child. Ella knew it was useless and the woman seemed to know it too, but how could she not try to protect the child?
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" She begged desperately. Her fear intertwined with her words and Ella's heart clenched at the awful sight in front of her. She finally knew what she was watching –it was the past. A horrible, horrible part of the past that Ella would never be able to change.
Voldemort took no pity on her, "Stand aside, you silly girl…stand aside, now."
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead –" Ella watched with wide, frightened eyes. She wanted the dream to change. This wasn't something she needed to see, not at all.
Ella watched Voldemort lose his patience, "This is my last warning –"
Lily Potter continued to plead with the merciless man, "Not Harry! Please…have mercy…have mercy… Not Harry! Not Harry! Please –I'll do anything –"
"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!" Ella knew she never would. Her posture screamed protection and Ella could sense a bit of Mrs. Weasley in the young Mrs. Potter. Voldemort grew tired of her refusal and Ella watched in terror as a jet of green light hit her. Lily Potter dropped to the floor, dead.
"I don't want to be here anymore," Ella thought desperately, but she didn't have the control she wanted. The curse blocked her attempts to move away from this awful night.
Harry looked at the man with wonder. He didn't understand the scene in front of him, but why should he? He was only a little baby standing in his crib. Voldemort raised his wand to the baby's face and stared at him intently. Harry began to cry and wail like any child would. He didn't understand what was happening, and Ella wanted more than anything to put a stop to it.
"Avada Kedavra!" He yelled and a jet of green light illuminated the room.
"NO!" Ella screamed as she closed her eyes at the awful sight. As soon as the scream ripped off her lips, she knew the vision was over.
A light breeze picked up her hair and Ella slowly opened her eyes. She was standing above the patches of snow once more. Her head seemed clouded and the world spun. Her eyes fell on the crimson spot on the ground. The mar on the pure snow. Whose? Why? Where? Ella's mind raced with questions, but she was aware of the falling sensation. She was crashing to the ground and suddenly pain flared around her.
It was in her head like when the Bludger had hit it. Her hand burned from another dream. Ella could feel her heart clenching like it had when she was Petrified. There were other pains that were worse, but Ella's mind seemed to be holding them at bay. She only felt a fraction of what the true pain would actually be. Lily's begging entered into the pain and the Longbottoms' screams of pain mingled into the mix.
"Not Harry!"
"CRUCIO!"
"Time is ticking….time is ticking…"
"Ella! Wake up! ELLA!" Katie was frantically shaking her. Ella's eyes opened and darted around only half understanding what was going on or where she was.
She shot up as soon as she remembered she was in the Great Hall, "What? I wasn't screaming was I?"
Katie shook her head, "No, you were thrashing and whimpering. I figured the screaming would come soon, so I decided it'd be best to wake you. Don't worry, not many people are up right now. It's still early." Ella nodded slightly and Katie gave her a quick hug before going back to her sleeping bag. She quickly looked over to the twins and noted that they were both sleeping soundly.
About an hour later, everyone was up and breakfast was being served. The twins chose to sit away from Ella, which prompted her to not eat. Between her dreams and the cold shoulder her best friends were giving her, she lost any appetite she might have had before. It was only Fred and George that seemed to have a problem with her. The others were fine with her friendship, a little skeptical, but willing to let it be.
The day passed in a similar manner. Everything was the same, except for two things. First was the alarming amount of gossip circulating about how Sirius Black managed to get in the castle. Then there was the identical red-heads who decided they no longer were on speaking terms with Ella. Throughout the day, Ella became more and more irritable. The boys were acting like children. What had she done to deserve that? Cho found her in the halls and apologized saying she should've realized it was a bad idea for her and Cormac to come up. Cormac acted the same as ever, but Cho said she was sure he must have felt bad…deep down. Ella told her she didn't need to worry about it –it was bound to happen sometime.
Dumbledore summoned her to his office after all of her classes had finished for the day. She went there reluctantly, knowing she'd have to lie to one of the people she admired most. After all, he was the one to give her a solution to her curse, no matter how awful.
"Come in, Ella," a strained voice called out just as she was about to knock.
Ella entered the room, "You wanted to see me, Professor Dumbledore?"
He nodded, "Yes, I was hoping to talk to you about Sirius Black. Have you seen where he is hiding or anything about how he was able to get in the castle last night?"
"No, sir, I haven't seen a thing about him," Ella said trying to will her voice not to give her lie away. Dumbledore's blue eyes pierced into hers.
"Nothing at all?" He questioned and Ella paused.
Should she tell him? Should she inform Dumbledore here and now that Peter Pettigrew was alive and hiding in a fourth year boy's dormitory up in Gryffindor tower? She could clear Sirius here and now; he'd be a free man. They could prove it completely. Her stomach clenched like with her curse. The reminder that the smallest alteration could have the biggest consequence. Ella curled and uncurled her hands into fists. The death of all of her friends or the freedom of an innocent man? She couldn't think about which would be the right decision. Why should she have to make decisions like this at the age of fourteen? The future was trick, as was the present and past. Ella felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. Should she tell? Could she put everyone she loved on the line for a man and a rat?
"No…I really haven't seen anything helpful," Ella deadpanned to him.
Dumbledore nodded solemnly, "Very well, that was all I needed. You may go." Ella moved out of the room with a ball of guilt rolling in her stomach. As soon as she left she slid down the wall defeated with tears rolling down her face.
Never in her life had she held such an important decision in her hand. She was too afraid of the future that crept closer and closer. Ella had only ever been told to keep the future secret so it wouldn't be changed. If she hid the future, then things would go as planned, but if she hid the future an innocent man would remain on the run. She had Sirius and Pettigrew's blood on her hands now. She didn't know whether she had made the right choice or not. She was the future's puppet, but the strings jerked her in directions that she didn't want to go. The future could jerk her any way it wanted, but she was going to make sure she had friends by her side regardless.
When Ella entered the Common Room after her meeting with Dumbledore, the twins made a move to go to their dormitory. She wasn't going to have that though. She was fed up with the events of that day. No, she was not someone who was going to sit around and take this from them. Her parents walked all over her and ignored her enough; she didn't need them to do that as well. The two got close to the stairs. They would've made it too –if Ella hadn't been so quick with her wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!" She cried out and both the boys collapsed to the floor. They were stuck, but still conscious, which is exactly what Ella needed. Others in the Common Room looked over at them with mild interest. Percy moved towards them with the intent to tell off Ella for using magic like this, but then backed off. Far be it from him to prevent someone from telling off the twins.
Ella took a deep breath, "Sorry, boys, but you left me no choice. This was the only way I saw that I'd be able to talk to you without interruptions. So here I go, you're both being idiots. Why do you care so much that I'm friends –and I use that term loosely –with McLaggen? Yes, he insulted you, but if you've noticed, he hasn't insulted you since we began hanging out in Divinations. We both needed a friend in that class, so we did what was necessary. This isn't going to affect our friendship! You two are my best friends and he's not going to get in the way of that, not in the slightest. What? Do I lose my two best friends just because I became friends with someone else? Doesn't that seem unfair?
"I swear, you two are acting like the biggest drama queens on the planet right now. Originally, I thought being near McLaggen would be awful, but he and Cho despise those lessons as much as I do. It is what it is, and if you two can't accept that then I don't know who you are anymore."
With that she released the spell and moved to go to the girl's dormitory. A hand curled around her wrist gently to stop her from going farther. She turned to face Fred and George who both looked incredibly sheepish.
Fred dropped her wrist and acknowledged, "We were being idiots. You're right… It's just –"
"You're our best friend too, Ella. We were worried that you'd think McLaggen was better than us or richer and you wouldn't want to be around us if you could be around him," George explained.
"It was childish."
"Idiotic."
She looked up at the two of them, "He's not going to replace either of you. It's not possible for anyone to replace you." The boys couldn't help but give Ella a bone-crushing hug after that. The rest of the night, the two boys tried making as many jokes as possible. Fred and George lit off an astounding amount of Filibuster Fireworks. At one point, the boys went on either side of Ella and used her hair for an impression of Professor Dumbledore.
It was eleven o'clock when the group moved to go upstairs. Only a couple students remained in the Common Room, one of them was Percy who was studying for a Charms exam. Normally, he would've put a stop to everything the twins did –it was true that even now he didn't approve of any of their antics. But when Ella was telling the two of them off, he saw something that made him stop. He'd often watched his mother scold the twins or any of her children. The fire that was in Mrs. Weasley's eyes reflected in Ella's. Afterwards, he didn't interfere because he wanted the friends to make up. Ella kept the two of them in line when she could, and the boys would be miserable without her. Percy chuckled to himself.
"Wait until mother hears about this."
At one in the morning, Ella snuck out of her dormitory and transformed into her fox. She zipped through the Common room and quickly made her way to the grounds. She was on a mission and couldn't let herself sleep until she had completed it. She searched the forest for nearly an hour looking for the dog.
"You!" She growled when she finally stumbled upon him and Crookshanks.
"Me?" Sirius stated puzzled.
"What were you thinking? Coming into the school during the feast! That was completely brainless!" Ella snapped at him.
Sirius rolled him eyes, "It was just an attempt. I had hoped that I could persuade the Fat Lady to let me in."
Ella looked at him in disbelief, "So when she didn't do that and did her job instead, you destroyed her portrait? Good job not making yourself seem unhinged."
"I don't need to appear sane, but I did lose my temper with her. I've got a bit of a nasty temper about me," Sirius explained without much care. "I'm just furious that I still haven't caught that rat."
"And you never will if you keep making dumb choices like that."
He barked out a laugh, "Haven't you ever heard of sheer dumb luck?"
"Yes, and it would appear you don't have it," Ella quipped which shut Sirius up.
"Well, have you only come to yell at me or do you have another reason for sneaking out tonight?"
She sighed knowing that she couldn't stay upset at a desperate man, "No, but it was the main reason. There's a Quidditch match on Saturday. I just thought you may like to see it since Harry's on the team."
Sirius looked at her with wide eyes, "Is he a Chaser? James was a Chaser."
"Seeker." The dog's face fell. "He's not James, Sirius. He's his son who looks insanely like him. You can't count on the boy to be the incarnation of your best friend –he's close but he'll never be the real thing."
"I know that…" Sirius mumbled.
"Good."
There was a pause before Sirius asked, "Is he any good?"
Ella grinned, "He's never lost a match. We should've won the Quidditch Cup the last two years, but circumstances have popped up each year that prevented it. Last year, Quidditch was cancelled because the Chamber of Secrets had reopened and too many students were attacked –I was one of them, but everyone survived just fine. Then before that, Harry was in the hospital wing after being attacked by Voldemort who was attached to the back of a Professor's head!"
Sirius gaped at her, "Never a dull moment at Hogwarts is there? Well, I'll want to know about those events later, but Quidditch is more important than them at the moment. How's the Gryffindor team looking?"
"Amazing! I'm friends with half the team. Harry's Seeker as I said, he's got a keen eye for the Snitch and has been known to catch it with record speed. The three Chasers are Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson –all of them are close friends of mine and superb. Then we've got the Weasley twins as our Beaters. They're my best friends and also fantastic. Then Oliver Wood is the Keeper and Captain, he's a bit obsessed, but rarely misses a save!" Ella explained excitedly.
"Sounds like you're quite the fan," Sirius responded with a grin.
She smiled, "Who isn't? I'd love to be on the team, but I can't interfere with the future so I just have to survive with being on the sidelines."
A drop of rain fell from the sky and landed on Ella's nose. She wrinkled it a bit and looked up at the stormy sky. She shivered slightly at the cold, wet month they were entering.
"There'll be more where that came from. You'd better head back to the school before it starts to pour," Sirius told her. She and Crookshanks darted off without getting too soaked. When Ella transformed back in the Common Room, she noticed that it was five in the morning. There was no way possible that she'd be able to sleep that night –not that she even wanted to. She'd rather be tired than dream again.
Ella decided the best way to use her time wisely would be to take a nice hot shower then go eat something. She hadn't eaten much the day before and was nearly famished. It was a while before any of her friends made an appearance in the Great Hall. She'd already finished a History of Magic essay and a lunar Chart for Astronomy by the time the rest of her friends sat down with bleary eyes and stifled yawns.
The rest of the week flew by with gaining excitement over Quidditch and gossip about the –now just absurd –assumptions about how Sirius Black entered the castle. Ella felt bad for Harry who was now being trailed around by someone at all times. Percy had orders from Mrs. Weasley to follow him wherever he went. Ella pitied him, but it was also slightly hilarious when Fred and George attempted to carry him to a class insisting that Black may have made a Harry-specific poison and laced the floor with it. Harry didn't buy this and they couldn't get him to play along.
If there was anything that had changed for the worse over the next few days, it was the new portrait that guarded their Common room. He was called Sir Cadogan and was completely bonkers. He made nearly three passwords per day and each became more eccentric as time passed. Ella had never had any trouble keeping up with passwords when it was the Fat Lady, but now she was beginning to question which password was being used at the moment. Neville Longbottom seemed to have an increasingly difficult time remembering the passwords.
"Try keeping a list, that may help," Ella suggested helpfully.
On Thursday, Ella and Lee were left in the Common Room while everyone went down to the pitch for their last practice. When they came back, they were all grumbling about the Slytherins and their usual tricks. Now the team would be facing Hufflepuff instead. Katie managed to tell Ella that Fred seemed very touchy about the subject of Cedric Diggory –almost jealous. Ella figured Katie was imagining things, but she kind of thought the idea of Fred being jealous was cute.
The morning of the match dawned stormy and cold. The roar of wind and thunder made Ella's eardrums rattle. Nevertheless, the game would go on as they always did. She felt bad for her friends as they looked out the window of the Common Room at the threatening sky. No matter how apprehensive the Quidditch team was about playing, the rest of the school was still buzzing with excitement.
"It's going to be a tough one," Wood told his teammates. Ella didn't like the green tinge to his skin or that he wasn't even touching his food.
Alicia tried to sooth him by saying, "Stop worrying, Oliver, we don't mind a bit of rain."
"Bit of rain my backside," Fred whispered to Ella. "It sounds like a hoard of trolls is having a party on top of the castle." The team braved their way to the field a little after that. Lee and Ella dashed towards the announcer's booth a bit after. They were thoroughly soaked after two seconds of being in the gale.
Lee shouted over the rain, "No one is going to hear me in this!"
"I'm next to you and I can't hear you!" Ella bellowed back. She had tucked an umbrella under her cloak and used a sticking charm so it stayed put with both of them under it. Rain still whipped around them, but some of it was kept out. The teams made their way onto the field and the whistle blew to signal the beginning of the game.
"AND THEY'RE OFF!" Lee yelled into the enchanted microphone. The noise was lost in the rain and Lee kept choking on the rain water that flew into his mouth.
Ella watched the game –or tried her hardest to. There was no way possible to distinguish any of the players. Lee was bellowing about the scores every time someone managed to get a point, but neither of them could figure out who had scored them. Bludgers nearly hit players, but no one could tell who hit them that way. Ella was becoming uncomfortably wet as the sky grew darker. Soon enough, night would be there and what chance was there of capturing the Snitch then?
A timeout was called and Ella watched everyone land and try to regroup. Someone from the stands ran onto the field and ended up casting a spell. Ella had no idea who it was or what the spell was for, but if it helped the Gryffindors then she wasn't going to argue. Soon enough, they were off once more and Ella was trying harder than ever to see what was happening on the field. Lightning was now etched across the sky periodically lighting up what was happening in the air. Ella's heart clenched with worry. She hoped none of her friends got struck.
Out of nowhere two things happened almost one after the other. The first was that Cedric spotted something and was racing towards it; Harry followed moments after. The next was an eerie silence that deadened the crowd around her. The students in the stands became rigid with fear. Lee's commentary died on his lips and the unmistakable chill of dementors filled the air. Harry plummeted towards the ground.
Hundreds of cloaked creatures soared around the grounds of the school sucking away the excitement and replacing it with terror at everything that was happening. Ella could hear the screams in the back of her mind. The sounds were pounding themselves into her brain. She didn't even realize she had fallen out of her seat and onto the floor of the booth. She couldn't hear anything other than Lily's despairing pleads and Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom's hysterical screams. She felt like she'd go insane after a moment more.
Fred didn't know where to go. He wished he remembered the spell Ella used on the train. One of the dementors decided that he and George were better targets than Harry. He glanced towards Ella wondering if she could cast that spell and make them leave. His heart leapt into his throat as he watched Ella fall out of her seat next to Lee. Dumbledore raced onto the field and slowed Harry's fall to the ground. Once Harry had landed on the grass he shot Ella's spell towards the dementors which scattered. The headmaster looked murderous.
He conjured a stretcher and placed Harry on it before walking him to the school. As soon as the dementors were gone, Ella came back to the present. Lee and Professor McGonagall were kneeling over her in the stands. Ella would've felt embarrassed about making a scene, but she was shivering too hard to manage anything. Both of them helped Ella get out of the rain and into the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey was working on Harry at the moment, but there wasn't much to do with him. She broke off a large chunk of chocolate and put it in Ella's hands. She nibbled on the treat letting the warmth rush back through her. Until she had gained enough strength, she remained seated on the edge of a bed in the hospital wing.
"Are you okay, Ella?" Professor Dumbledore asked her gently. She shook her head and tried to regain a normal breathing pattern. "Is there something in the future that caused this effect from the dementors?"
"N-no, Professor. It-it's the past, sir, I can hear things that happened. Like the night when Voldemort went to the Potter's home or what happened to a certain Gryffindor's Auror parents from Bellatrix Lestrange," Ella explained shakily. His eyes darkened at the mention of both events, but particularly the Longbottoms'. McGonagall paled at the realization of what she heard when dementors came close. Her eyes flicked towards Harry as she figured out that he must hear the same thing.
"Madam Pomfrey," he called. The nurse looked up from her work, "When Ella goes to leave please give her a few sleeping draughts. She's in need of a peaceful night's rest." He placed a reassuring hand on Ella's shoulder and with a small squeeze he dismissed himself with the promise of telling off a group of horrible monsters that have no right to come on the grounds.
A few moments after, the Gryffindor team along with Hermione and Ron made it into the hospital wing. Wood wasn't among them, but Ella figured he'd need a moment or two in order to let the loss sink in. Lee had whispered in her ear that Diggory had caught the Snitch as they took her to the hospital wing. Fred and George made sure to give Ella two gigantic bear hugs before moving aside so the girls could fret over their friend. Ella was soon spattered with some of the mud they'd tracked in with them. She felt much better now that all of her friends were with her again. The large group moved over to where Harry was currently passed out. Hermione was shaking quite a bit and Ella gave her a quick hug.
Fred looked at Harry wearily, "Lucky the ground was so soft."
"I thought he was dead for sure," George shivered.
"But he didn't even break his glasses," Ella remarked.
Angelina shook her head, "That was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."
Harry's eyes snapped open and he glanced at the people around him. They must have been a rather odd sight. They all looked like they'd been swimming, or mud diving in the team's case. He looked extremely pale, but they all did due to the traumatic event.
Fred noticed he was awake after Ella did, "Harry! How're you feeling?"
"What happened?" Harry said shooting upwards like a bolt of lightning. Everyone gasped, not expecting the sudden movement.
"You fell off," Fred explained for the group. "Must've been –what –fifty feet?"
Alicia was shaking, "We thought you'd died." Hermione squeaked slightly at that and Ella put an arm back around her for comfort.
Harry's mind was on other thing though, "But the match… What happened? Are we doing a replay?" Everyone was silent. No one wanted to break it to Harry that he'd finally lost a match. "We didn't –lose?"
George finally broke it to him, "Diggory caught the Snitch just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square…even Wood admits it."
"Where is Wood?" Harry asked looking at all of them and noticing their Captain wasn't there.
Fred frowned, "Still in the showers. We think he's trying to drown himself." Harry curled up with his knees going to his chest and his hands gripping his hair. Fred grabbed his shoulder and gave him a rough shake. "C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."
"There had to be one time you didn't get it," George said comfortingly.
"It's not over yet. We lost by a hundred points, right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin…" Fred calculated.
George countered, "Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least two hundred points."
"But if they beat Ravenclaw…" Fred said suddenly unsure.
His twin shook his head, "No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff…"
"It all depends on the points –a margin of a hundred either way…"
The boys discussed their theories a little longer before Madam Pomfrey shooed them all out. Fred vowed they'd come visit Harry again, and Ella was given enough sleeping draughts to last her until break had ended if she used them sparingly. Madam Pomfrey must have heard what she told Dumbledore because she gave her an extra pitying look before she left. The group left downcast, but there was still hope of the Quidditch Cup coming home with the Gryffindors. Ella smiled a bit to herself –there was still hope and hope was exactly what she needed after this week.
A/N: Alright! There you are, as I said this is my favorite chapter I've wrote yet for this story so I hope you enjoyed! Please keep reviewing! The response is fantastic!