Hogwart's Library, September 2, 1995
Ella was waiting for Hermione to show up in the library. She wasn't even pretending to do anything. She just sat there, staring off into the distance. Circe sat quietly in her bag, knowing not to disturb her human. Ella was remembering last night.
"Hello, Lucius." Those were her first words to him. For her, it was only days ago since she had spoken to him last. For him, it was another life. He turned to her then, impossibly tall. There were fine lines on his face that hadn't been there before. And his eyes. His eyes could have been older than hers for all the death he'd seen.
"Arabella." He croaked. His eyes flashed anger, then hope. It was an odd combination, but it was also an odd circumstance. She stood tall, regally. Every inch the lady she was. All she really wanted to do was wring her hands nervously like a schoolgirl.
"You've gotten older too." It wasn't a question. She was still the same Arabella he remembered, but there were lines on her face too. Her eyes were just as sad, her hair just as red. One white streak from her temple was the only exception.
"I thought it might be easier." She spoke softly. He finally reached out for her, crushing her in a hug. Though she really couldn't breathe at all, she could finally breathe easier than she had in days. She felt a gentle kiss on the top of her head, then he stepped back, once again the perfect gentleman.
"After everything, easier is nice." He swallowed and looked away.
"You would have done everything, regardless." She spoke as if he were a stray, likely to run away at one wrong word.
"I know. But what made the difference, I think, is hope. I hoped for this day every minute of every day." He ran a careworn hand through his hair. If Ella cared to look closer, she'd see the white mixed in with the white blond.
"Have you and Sev done it?" She barely dared ask. The memory of when she had asked them if they would do it was still very fresh in her mind, as well as the explosion after.
But there was no explosion, merely a glint in his eyes. "Yes." He sighed. "Yes. There are many, far too many, who were recruited by force, who regretted their choice when it was far too late. They are all yours now, my Lady."
She was instantly Lady Mora, pushing away the past like a spider's web. "How many?" And the rest of the night they talked numbers and strategy. She had intruded on him in his private study. The Lady Malfoy was out, attending a social commitment. Ella was glad. She didn't wish to meet her yet. Lucius had never been hers, but she could wait to meet the woman that held Lucius' forever in her hands.
Ella blinked back to the present as Harry sat beside her. Hermione sat on her left, and Ron sat scowling across from her. She had chosen a very secluded spot in the library, and she now unobtrusively cast silent spell around them. No one noticed, not even Hermione.
Harry spoke up first. "Who are you?" He demanded. Ella blinked again, and Circe made her way onto the table to hiss at the rude human.
She is mine, human. You don't need to know anything else unless you want your face clawed off.
It was Harry's turn to blink at the strange kitten in front of him.
"Don't worry about Circe, Harry. She can't hurt you unless I let her." Ella could not quite keep a tired note out of her voice. She could not wait until this was all over. Harry and Hermione gave her quick glances, while Ron was quite focused on the sharp teeth Circe was showing off by yawning.
"But I do agree with her, that was quite rude Harry." Ella propped her fingers at the corner of her mouth, making an imposing figure.
Harry muttered a "Sorry." And Ella waved a hand.
"But I can understand your concern. Here I am, Slytherin to the core, and I am acting very un-Slytherin like. Wanting to be Hermione's friend, standing up for you in class, it's quite the conundrum I imagine."
"Yes." Hermione stated. "It rather is. So if you could clear up your intentions towards us, that would be splendid."
Ella grinned, a sharp almost feral grin. Ron shrank back in his chair a bit. "I like you both. Haven't heard much from Ginger over there, but I definitely like you two." Ron scowled even more. He clearly didn't like her nickname. She smirked at him. Great, because she'd use it often now.
"Hmm, my intentions. Well, long story short, I believe you Harry." Ella pointed at the scar adorned boy. Harry's surprise showed in his wide eyes.
"You d-?" His voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "You do?" Ella nodded, still smirking as any good Slytherin would do.
Hermione wanted more though. "You believe him about what?" Her arms crossed on the table and she leaned forward to hear what Ella had to say. Enjoying her enraptured listeners, Ella answered.
"I believe Voldemort is back." Ron fell out of his chair, and Hermione gulped. Harry just sat there, a bit stoically. "Yes, I do say his name. Though I'd advise against it in the presence of his marked ones. Their mark allows him to hear when someone is speaking about him." She threw out this information so casually, Hermione didn't even notice the fact Ella really shouldn't have this information until later that night. As Ron climbed back onto his chair with a red face, Ella continued.
"Voldemort is back, and he's already taken so much that is dear to me." At Harry's look of disbelief, she shook her head and explained. "You'll find that there are people in Slytherin that have lost just as much as you have, Harry, or more." He looked like he was going to argue with her, but she raised a hand. "No, listen to me. Think about it. All of Slytherin can't be evil, just as all of Gryffindor can't be good." She gave the Trio a pointed look, and their faces paled, remembering a certain rat. "That means there are people in there who have family who have been forced into taking the mark or have been forced themselves." She took a deep breath. "I know many like that who had no choice."
"There is always a choice." Hermione spoke up. Ron nodded, agreeing with her. Ella looked at Harry. He was looking at her, his gaze speaking volumes.
Her answer was a question. "Harry?" The boy blinked, then looked at his friends.
"Yeah, I mean, there's always a choice. But that's a very black and white way of looking at things. What if your dad was a Death Eater, Ron? And he asked you to take the mark too? You can't imagine it now, but your family is everything to you. You'd make a choice, but in your mind, it's not really. And Hermione." The bushy haired girl looked at her friend, now understanding. "If Voldemort had your parents, and you knew he was torturing them every day you said no, what would you choose?" Harry slumped in his chair, clearly not used to thinking things like that. But seeing death changed a person.
"And that's why I'm here. I believe you, and very few others do. You need a friend, and if you're willing to be friend with a Slytherin, I'll be friends with a Gryffindor." She smiled gently at him. He nodded slowly, as did Hermione. Ron wasn't convinced, she could tell. But neither were the other two, not fully.
"Hermione, let's get to work." Ella said with a grin. And so they did.
oooOooo
"Fred, isn't that the weird Slytherin girl?" George motioned to a figure walking ahead of them in a nearly deserted hallway.
Fred craned his head, and finally nodded. "I do believe it is, twinnie. And I do believe we have a few questions for her, don't we?"
Both twins lengthened their stride and caught up to the smaller girl in moments. She spoke just before they fell into step on each side of her.
"It isn't nice to call someone weird, whether it's true or not." Ella didn't look at either of them, but she could imagine their faces.
"You heard us?" Fred choked out.
"You should work on your stealth skills. I could hear you two from a mile away." The two red heads stopped walking, affronted. As Ella turned a corner, she called back, "No wonder you two get caught as much as you do."
Fred and George hurried around the corner, ready to protest, only to stop in confusion. She wasn't there. And there were no hidden nooks for her to hide in either. They both quickly pulled out the map and scanned it. No Eleanor Sinclair to be found. Unfortunately, their encounter with the strange girl only left them with more questions and no answers.
oooOooo
Ella burst out laughing as she came out of her apparation. It had been slightly harder to apparate without sound through the wards, but she had done it. If only she could have seen the looks on the twin's faces. She shook her head as she headed to her Common Room. A few corridors before she got there, she knew someone was watching her. She knew exactly who it was, too. Which is why, when a pair of hands grabbed her and dragged her into a room, she didn't struggle. In fact, she just smirked at the irony of the situation. How often had she dragged his father into this exact room?
Draco was understandably upset, therefore, seeing her smirk. "What the bloody hell, Sinclair? I drag you into a room, and all you can do is smirk at me!" He ran a hand through his hair so similar to his father's.
"I'll tell you, don't worry." Draco raised an unbelieving eyebrow. "Someday." She added as she sat down primly.
She looked at him for a moment. He could have been mine. She thought, her lips tightening slightly. She imagined for a mere second, seeing the tall boy before her with wavy black hair, steel blue eyes, and a tendency to laugh. She blinked and it was gone. Draco, however, was not.
"Are you alright?" There was little concern in his voice, just curiosity. The girl had looked at him with sad eyes, then looked through him like she was seeing someone else. Draco thought she was mad as a hatter. He inched away from her.
"Fine." She said curtly. "And you can stop trying to leave. I'm not mad and this was your idea, remember?" This was not her son. He was Narcissa's, as was Lucius. Ella ignored the pain in her chest. She had made her own choices and chose her own path.
"I remember." Draco muttered sullenly. He still eyed the door, though Ella noticed.
"Despite your intentions, I'm rather glad we could have a chat. I have a few things to say to you, and you're going to sit there and listen." Ella primly crossed her ankles.
Draco, feeling oddly like he was being scolded by his mum, actually did so.
"Now, I've heard some rather disturbing things about you these past few years. You are whiny when you don't get your own way, you bully those you think beneath you, you have a blinding hatred for Potter, you are attracted to Granger and hate yourself for it, so you bully her even more than others, you write to your father about every problem you have instead of solving it yourself, and your grades are merely mediocre, even if they are up to a Slytherin standard. I think that about covers it, don't you?" Ella enjoyed hearing Draco sputter at each listing. He grew completely incoherent when she mentioned Granger. He was staring at her in shocked silence. Oh dear, she had hoped by placing it in the middle of the rest, he wouldn't be as bothered. Apparently not.
"How did you know?" He whispered through stiff lips.
"What? About your grades? The teachers don't ward their grade books very well. Never have really." Ella added on the last part because she knew he'd never remember it.
"What? No! About Granger…" Draco was frowning, clearly trying to figure out how she figured it out.
"What? Her? You're a bit obvious, Draco dear. And your cruel targeting has been the talk of Slytherin for years. Everyone else got over it after third year. Yes, she's muggleborn. That happens, get over it already. It's not like she's the only muggleborn in your year. The only logical conclusion is that you fancy her, and considering who and how you are, you would not be okay with it."
Draco was shaking his head. "I do not fancy a Mudblood!" He shouted. Ella had had enough. Time to teach this brat a lesson. Clearly, neither Lucius nor Narcissa had done so.
She stood up, her eyes blazing. Draco gulped and sank back into his seat. He had never felt so much power in his life. It whirled around her, threatening to explode. He had a feeling that if it did, Hogwarts would be a pile of rubble, wards or no.
"Draco Malfoy, if I ever hear that word come out of your mouth again, or if anyone else hears that word from your mouth again, you will wish you'd never heard of it in the first place. Am I clear?" Draco was barely able to nod. As soon as he did, Ella sat back down like nothing had ever happened. She waved an arm and tea appeared in front of them.
"Tea?" She offered, taking a sip from her own cup. Draco lifted a shaky hand as he nodded. Some tea might do him good.
Needless to say, Draco never said that word again. The entirety of Slytherin noticed, including their Head of House. Unlike all the others, he noticed it coincided with the arrival of a very peculiar transfer student. As Severus Snape continued to observe Ella Sinclair throughout the next several weeks, something kept niggling at his mind. But as he could never make it materialize, he began to ignore it.
Also over the next few weeks, Ella made great strides with the Plan. She contacted and was able to befriend both Theodore Nott and Daphne Greengrass. Both of them were seventh years like the Weasley twins.
She never had to do homework, thankfully the curriculum hadn't changed at all in the last twenty years and she can turn in the homework she did last year. She was careful about who she spend her time with though. Every word she said, every action she made was carefully thought out. And so she made friends easily. She could read the most shut down people like an open book, and knew exactly what to say. She also knew how to listen once she had had her say. And that's what really made her friends.
There was only one person she had ever met that she couldn't read. And that person was Luna Lovegood. From the second Ella heard her speak, she was enchanted.
"Ah, the girl who never has the time. Is it a pleasure?" Luna had stopped right in front of Ella in a nearly empty hallway.
And for once, Ella did not know what to say. From what the older Harry had told her, Luna was prone to saying the oddest things. And it was also discovered some years after she graduated Hogwarts that she was a Seer. And so Ella wondered.
"It's hard to say." Ella finally replied. Luna craned her head and blinked her large eyes.
"But you do know. And the knowing makes the difference." Luna blinked once more and nearly floated off in the direction of the Ravenclaw dorms.
Ella raised an eyebrow, determined to make friends with this girl. And she did. For the first time, Luna had someone seek her out. Ella was obvious about it, knocking at the Ravenclaw door and asking to see Luna. They bonded immediately. Luna could only See so much, but what she could See, she had an uncanny ability of deducing the rest. And Ella just knew everything. It made for many roundabout discussions between the two of them, and both were delighted.
It was during one of these discussions down a corridor that the two girls ran into a very pale Harry Potter. Luna tightened her lips and hurried away. She had homework to do anyway. Ella merely raised an eyebrow and leaned against a wall.
"What?" Harry rasped out, a hand clasped against his scar. Ella thought the movement quite unconscious, as the older Harry had informed her that it used to throb often.
"Oh nothing." Ella spoke quietly. "Just the fact that your hand is bleeding atrociously, and you are trying to hide it from view, instead of looking after it." Her eyes, usually calm, were flashing her anger for all to see.
"Mind your own business, Sinclair." Harry muttered and set off down the hallway.
Ella rolled her eyes and transfigured a piece of lint from her pocket into a dressing. "And here I thought we were on a first name basis, Potter." He stopped and hunched his shoulders. She caught up to him quickly enough.
"I'm fine, Ella. I cut myself during Potions. No big deal." Harry was still hiding his hand. Ella tsked and grabbed his hand with a speed that astonished the taller boy.
"Then you feel very strongly about 'not telling lies.' But somehow, I doubt that is the truth. How long has that toad been giving you detentions?" Ella finished wrapping his hand, and Harry snatched it away from her.
"A week. She overheard me telling some curious Hufflepuffs that Voldemort is back. Now go away." Harry began striding down the corridor. Even though Ella was fairly tall for a girl herself, she still had to nearly run to catch up to Harry.
"I won't merely 'go away', Harry." Ella managed to get in front of him, and put two hands on his chest to stop him. Like the agile Seeker he was, Harry merely spun away from her and kept walking. Ella didn't chase after him this time. She was infuriated. She was used to how the older Harry had reacted to things, but this was ridiculous. This Harry would never be that Harry.
"Harry Potter, stop running away!" Ella threw a large amount of power into those words. Harry could do nothing but halt where he was.
Harry was beginning to be a bit infuriated himself. He had just been tortured by one of his teachers, and now this girl wouldn't leave him to brood in peace. Now add to that the fact he had been stopped in his tracks without a spell made him confused and completely infuriated. He spun around with a roar.
"I said, leave me alone!" Harry couldn't move, and therefore was surprised that Ella was right behind him. She moved fast, he thought.
Ella yelled right back. "When will you ever learn, Harry James Potter, that this war is not all about you? It's not all about you now, and it's not all about you in the future! Why can't you ever just trust me?" And all the years of stress caught up with a very human Ella, and for the first time since she had arrived in this time, tears gathered in her eyes. Then, her face paled considerably and she whirled away.
Harry stared after the quickly disappearing girl, completely baffled. It was almost as if she knew him better than she should. After all, why would he trust her?