A/N: This is 3 seconds later than the last A/N I wrote so I still don't have anything to say.
Homeward Bound:
'I don't remember falling down on a carpet…' Elizabeth blinked her eyes and was happy to see that the blind spots were gone except for one pinprick on each eye. Pushing herself up cautiously, she looked around. 'This place looks familiar…'
Looking around she realized she was back in her home, or…what used to be her home. Whatever the explosion had been in her dream from long ago, it had knocked out the north wall for the sitting room. The house had clearly been abandoned, probably after the night Voldemort 'visited'. Trees were overgrown and the large branches were coming in the open roof and the grass out the north way where she could see was overgrown, up to the height of the windowsill.
Everything was burnt, the couch, the table, all furniture except a mirror with a crack spreading out like a spider web over the reflecting part hanging lopsided on the wall. Getting up to inspect herself for any injury, she stepped back quickly when she saw herself. The design that her mother had put on the right side of her face was once more in position though not with ink, it looked like it had been burned on.
Coming out from outside edge of her right eye, three lines spiraled out, one twisting up into a curl around the temple while the second one twisted downwards and curved in and ended on her cheekbone, just where her scar ended. The third and longest line outlined the side of her face and came up to curl into a spiral on her jaw line. "What the bloody hell?"
Looking around, she wondered if there was anything left that would be of use, something, anything about the Estel Saiqa Clan. She began digging around in rotted pieces of furniture for anything, purposefully staying as far from the mirror as she could, hoping the next time she'd use a mirror the design would be gone so she wouldn't have to explain it.
There were scorch marks on the walls, which she followed. She ended up in what she assumed was a bedroom, most likely her parents'. A quarter of the bed was left from whatever fire had been spread through the house and a glint of sunlight reflected off some metal on the floor, half under the bed, caught her eye.
Getting down on her hands and knees, Elizabeth saw that it was a trap door with a brass-looking handle covered in rust and ash. Grabbing hold, Elizabeth pulled with all her might until she heard a creak and the door lifted enough that she could enter. She looked inside and began coughing on the dust cloud that had flowed upwards at the new space for it.
When she had caught her breath and the dust had settled, she slowly dropped herself into the room that couldn't have been more than 2m2. At first she thought there was nothing there but after she saw past the sun-drenched dust, she noticed a small wooden chest of what looked like cherry with gold trim. Going to open it, she realized that it was heavily locked with both lock and magic.
She shrunk it and placed it in the remaining pocket of what was left of her school robes. Looking around, she determined that there was nothing else of interest there. She scanned the rest of the house from top to bottom as much as she could with all the debris until she was sure that she hadn't missed anything.
With tears in her eyes, she tried to remember everything so that maybe, one day, she would be able to return. Brushing away her tears, frustrated, she tried to figure out what to do to get back to Hogwarts, her new home. Maybe she could grab a cab; she always kept a few pounds in her pocket. She looked around one last time and then walked through the door that was on half hinges in the doorframe.
-------------------------
"Sorry Malfoy," Harry pushed the blonde hair out of the Slytherin's closed eyes, "there was nothing else I could do right now." Draco had clearly gone into a panic attack and knowing that nothing could be done, Harry had put a Sleeping Spell on him, but making sure that he had the power to wake Draco if there was any news.
Draco was now sprawled out on the grass with Harry sitting on the boulder just over the water's edge. Hermione and Ron had brought them out some food to eat, which Harry picked at briefly before saying a quick thanks and turning back to the water. Realizing that there was nothing they could do either, Ron and Hermione returned to the Great Hall so no one was suspicious, though it was a Sunday and they doubted people would be interested in going out since a light drizzle had started up.
Dumbledore had gotten specific Ministry personnel to question and take away the Death Eaters, who, like everyone assumed, told nothing about the location. Dumbledore had disappeared into his office, tense and worried, while Snape and McGonagall had returned to the building to keep the kids under control and try to make sure no one found out that Elizabeth was gone.
For a moment, Harry looked up and let the rain, which was becoming heavier as the day progressed, cover and soak him through. After he was dripping wet, he dropped his head once again onto his knees and wrapped his arms around his legs as he looked out across the Hogwarts Lake as fog began to cover it.
-------------------------
"Oh my gosh! Come on!" Elizabeth yelled, completely exasperated by her position. After a quick trek around her former home, she realized that the house was in the middle of nowhere. Forest on all sides with an overgrown beaten-down path leading her, there was nothing she could do except follow it and hope it led to some town.
After what she thought was an hour of walking, a clearing was visible up ahead and she began jogging towards it, looking forward to a town where she could get food, water and hopefully, transportation. She was out of luck. As she turned a corner and entered the complete clearing she saw that there was nothing but an old oak signpost with the name 'Angelisaz Way' chipped into it and a path heading north, east, west, and back the way she had come; south.
"What to do, what to do," Elizabeth began to mutter as she walked around a complete circle of the clearing in the quiet forest. She could hear a few birds far off; enjoying the warm sunny day but that was no help. And she heard no river or anything else she might follow that would lead to a town.
She couldn't use magic outside of school since she wasn't 17 years old yet without worrying about getting in trouble. 'But wait…I've already used spells today and I haven't gotten in any trouble with the Ministry…well I suppose even if I do get in trouble they'll have to track me down and I'll transported to wherever…'
With this thought in mind, she muttered the spell, "Point Me," with the idea of Hogwarts in her mind. She also added in a second, "Direct Me," to the burst of light, which turned into an arrow so that the arrow would go in front of her until she reached her destination and tell her how far it was. Looking at the little numbers underneath the arrow, she gave a sigh, "oh its only 178 kilometers is it?" she said in a very sarcastic tone before storming around the perimeter of the clearing once more.
The arrow turned red so she knew she was going the wrong way and she glared at the arrow quickly, though it was more to make her feel better than anything else. She thought of maybe accioing a broom from Hogwarts but she quickly dismissed the idea that it would take far too long for it to reach her, and the spell may not even reach that far to begin with.
She next thought of creating a broom from scratch but with her low magic supply she doubted she'd have enough energy left to use the broom afterwards. She could walk, but it was far too far to really bother and without any sort of muggle transportation, broom seemed the best option. The forest seemed a maze of paths where anyone could get lost; maybe that was why her parents had made the house there?
Her next and really, final option came to her around twenty minutes later after she had plopped down on the grass to think. She wouldn't survive making a broom from scratch, but maybe, perhaps, transfiguring one from something else would be manageable. First she was going to use a leaf but she figured it would be easier if she used proper materials. Therefore, she grabbed a branch of good size and a larger group of smaller twigs. Next she ripped off a piece of material from the remainder of her robes for attaching it all and then settled down to transfigure it all.
Another ten minutes later, there was a passable broom sitting on the ground in front of her. She hadn't had enough magical energy to add speed to the broom to make it like the new Firebolt or anything but she'd make due. The blind spots where back again so after kicking off through the foliage and into open air, she added a, "Guide Me," to her other two spells so the broom would follow the arrow and she was off.
It was a long way to go but during the times she was half coherent, she made sure she had an invisibility charm over the broom and herself so no Muggles would spot her in the sky above. But most of the trip she was out cold, her body shutting down to try and replenish her magic.
When the broom was led over Hogsmeade, Elizabeth woke up once more after being out for almost 45 minutes. She was soaked through from going through clouds and her pathetic excuse for robes (now, after everything of course, they were fine before) were doing nothing to keep her warm. The wind had picked up and the water in Elizabeth's long red hair was beginning to freeze over into a light frost and she was very stiff.
Looking up, she finally saw her new home; Hogwarts looked so inviting that Elizabeth gave a great cry of joy though almost immediately she was out cold once more from the strengthening winds. As she was over the Hogwarts Lake, the three spells considered her at the destination and all disappeared at the same time. Therefore, Elizabeth slipped off her broom, unknowing, and plummeted to the water below.
-------------------------
The second Harry saw something in the distance he immediately quit the sleeping spell and shook Draco until he was awake. Looking up, slightly bewildered, Harry pointed in the sky the second the person on broomstick passed over the Hogwarts bounds. "It doesn't work that way," Harry said, just as confused as Draco now, "Hogwarts bounds doesn't let anyone in with broomstick or Apparating."
"It does if it's a Hogwarts student!" Draco said excitedly as he felt a faint pulse return as a certain someone came closer. "Potter its Elizabeth! But her pulse is really weak."
At that very moment, they saw the young girl slip from her broom and disappear into the black water of the Lake. Immediately, Harry rushed to the school entrance to get help while Draco jumped right in and swam to where bubbles were slowly rising from deep below. He ducked under the surface, ignoring the biting cold of the ice water and swam deeper and deeper until he saw Elizabeth's form. Catching hold, he pulled her back up to the surface and was relieved to see she was still breathing fine.
Swimming rather awkwardly, Draco towed the girl to the shore where he immediately ripped off his coat and outer robe to warm Elizabeth at seeing the frost and dust coating Elizabeth. "Elizabeth wake up, I know you're alive so you better wake up," Draco said quietly while wrapping his body around the muggle girl's frigid-cold form to make sure the blood didn't rush to her heart too fast.
Harry returned with the only person he could find; Professor Snape. He wasn't too thrilled about the fact but he knew Elizabeth would need immediate help and wasn't going to be picky at the current moment. When they reached where Draco was warming Elizabeth, they saw that her breathing was back to normal but she still hadn't woken.
"Draco, move. I'm going to take her to Madam Pomfrey," Snape said calmly and with Harry's help, pried the Slytherin blonde off of his girlfriend. After that he took her in his arms and began walking as fast as possible towards the Hospital Wing, self-consciously tightening his hold to try and warm her though he'd never, even under the truth potion, admit to doing so.
"Potter, go get Minerva and Albus," Severus said quickly when they had entered the hall towards the Hospital Wing. Not bothering to argue, Harry quickly ran in the opposite direction to Dumbledore's office where he figured the old Headmaster would currently be. If he was lucky, the Deputy Headmistress would also be present. Knowing the platinum blond wouldn't be leaving, Snape let him follow as they entered the ward and placed her on one of the beds.
The Head Nurse appeared quickly and gave a cry of joy at seeing the missing student returned home. She immediately changed the girl into hospital pajamas with a flick of her wand, the scraps of the old robes appearing instead on the counter beside the bed. She cast some diagnostic spells over the girl, healing the few cuts she had received until the girl, besides being asleep and having the odd design covering the right side of her face, looked completely normal, maybe even a bit better.
She next cast a strong spell to look at the girl's aura and magic stores to look for any problems there. Immediately she went pale and looked at Severus with a quick, "get your strongest Replenishing Potions," before returning to her work. The man was out of the room within seconds, leaving Draco alone to ask questions again and again without answer.
Madam Pomfrey next traced her wand tip over the design but shook her head when she was finally done. "Well, what's wrong?" Draco asked, frantic and exasperated.
"I healed her cuts and that sort, I don't know what this design is from but I'm sure Albus will know when he arrives…but what's the worst of it is that her magical supply is more or less, completely wiped out. She only has enough to keep her body alive, if you asked her to do a simple unlocking charm she would either collapse, sleep for quite a while, or…die."
Draco nearly fainted at the last part but held himself together, "will there be any lingering damage?"
"Oh no, magic always replenishes itself, and with Ms. Moon's ability I'm sure it will be exceedingly fast but it will still take a while and when the body is down to that little amount of magic, it shuts down so it doesn't waste any energy until it is caught up," she paused for a minutes, catching her breath, "which means, that she will be asleep, much like being in a coma until her magic is back to its normal amount. Ah, Severus, good, good, bring them here, this should speed things up a bit," Madam Pomfrey turned to the Potion Master as he returned with three orangey-gold liquid filled vials.
They immediately forced all three down the girl's throat, Draco being surprised that Snape looked almost as concerned as Madam Pomfrey. After they were done Draco inquired as to this change and Snape answered rather grudgingly, "I suppose the ruddy girl has grown on me; much the same as the bloody Potter boy."
Draco couldn't help but laugh at the man but quickly stopped when Severus glared at him. He wouldn't put it past his godfather to not give him detention. Finally Dumbledore and McGonagall, quickly followed Harry, entered the Hospital Wing. The four adults grouped together so the two newcomers could get caught up so the ebony haired boy rushed over to the Slytherin for an explanation.
Draco kept getting distracted as the pulse in the ring on his finger let off a stronger and stronger pulse every 5 minutes. Finally, once everyone was informed, Dumbledore moved to the bedside and began looking over the design that was more like a tattoo than anything else, only completely non-removable. He muttered to himself for some time before saying they would have to wait for Elizabeth to wake but he thought strongly that the design was not harmful and was actually something very good and important.
The teachers scattered to watch over the Hogwarts students again during dinner, which was about to start, while Dumbledore returned to his office. Draco and Harry grudgingly left Lizzie's side to get a quick dinner and to find Ron and Hermione before it got too crowded. The Head Nurse had guessed that the girl should wake up within a week, two at the most before they should begin to worry. Alone in the Hospital Wing, Elizabeth turned over and continued to sleep soundly as her design began to glow in time with the ring sitting on Dumbledore's desk, waiting to be reunited once again.
A/N: Again, sorry for not updating so much lately but I've already given out my excuses. I hope this makes it up. Please review and I'll try to get more out ASAP.
A/N2: I've passed the 100page mark! Go me! Lol.