True to her word, Melanie wrote to Eliza detailing everything that was happening at Hogwarts. She had been sorted into Ravenclaw (which Eliza had thoroughly expected) and was immediately taken under the wing of a rather unusual fourth year named Luna. She wrote about her classes (charms and transfiguration were her favorites) and about the teachers. Melanie had been quite surprised to discover that the creepy black-cloaked man that lived next door to Eliza was none other than the potions master, Professor Snape.
Apparently, Snape was as awful in class as he was outside of school. Melanie wrote of one particularly embarrassing event when her class was making boil cure potion and the person sitting next to her knocked an entire bottle of dried nettles into her caldron. The resulting smell was so offensive that Melanie could no longer keep her lunch down and she managed to vomit all over Professor Snape's robes. Although she narrowly missed detention for that one, the points he took away ensured that Ravenclaw would be nowhere near winning the house cup at the end of the year. Even though Melanie painted an awful picture of the potions master, Eliza could not hold back a smile as she pictured the incident in her head.
Melanie also described the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Delores Umbridge. Eliza was horrified when she learned that Umbridge had been appointed to the post. Several years before, when Eliza sought early medical licensure, the toad-like woman had exercised every move within her power to prevent it from happening. Luckily, Eliza's father was a renowned contributor to the hospital and with a discreet donation to Umbridge's Gringotts account, the desired certification was granted. Eliza did feel a bit guilty about the bribery, but she knew that Delores Umbridge was a detestable excuse of a witch who was playing an age-old game. And when Melanie told Eliza about Umbridge's refusal to teach actual defense spells in class, Eliza was ready to make the trek to Hogwarts and give the woman, and perhaps Dumbledore a piece of her mind. What were they playing at, denying the children basic defense skills when there was as much as hint of Voldemort's return?
But other than a few unpleasant teachers, Melanie thoroughly enjoyed being at Hogwarts. She loved the sprawling grounds that led to the lake. She loved watching Quidditch with her friends and often wrote about various broom models and complicated flying moves (Eliza was very surprised by her interest in Quidditch since she never seemed to enjoy sports before). She loved the castle and all of its magnificent murals, trick staircases, and dark passageways. But most of all, Melanie loved the library.
In her letters, Melanie described her hours spent between the aisles of dusty books, pouring over centuries old tomes, greedily absorbing every ounce of knowledge she could soak up from the ancient text. She had memorized Hogwarts: A History and was soon pouring over volumes of wizard lore and ancient, outdated spells.
In the library, she soon fell in with some fifth year Gryffindors who were busily studying for their O.W.L. s. It had begun when a young lady named Hermione Granger helped her find a book on the goblin wars and the pair fell into a deep conversation on the ethical treatment of non-human magical creatures. After that day, Melanie would sit with Hermione and her two best friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. She usually read silently while they discussed things that she didn't understand. Most of their discussions seemed to revolve around Harry and how nobody believed his assertions about Voldemort returning and how his scar was hurting frequently for unknown reasons. During these conversations, Melanie kept her nose buried in whatever book she was reading, but her inquisitive ears caught what they were saying. Writing to Eliza allowed Melanie to say what she thought about Harry Potter and his terrible claims. Melanie believed every word that Harry said because it made sense with the evidence put before her. Not growing up in the wizard world, where the ministry pushed slander rather than the truth, Melanie was able to see the cold, hard facts. Voldemort had in fact returned and Melanie was prepared to do whatever possible to bring him down once more.
This news saddened Eliza. Even though she was pleased that Melanie had taken the high road and chose to face the evil rather than side with it, she hated it that the eleven year old had to face such a decision. The girl should have been experiencing the joy of learning about magic and exploring the fun side of her talents rather than worrying about the possibility that a wizard kind was on the brink of another war.
But the worst thing about Melanie's belief in Harry was the fact that it confirmed Eliza's worst fear. The Dark Lord had in fact returned. This revelation brought back the very worst memories that Eliza had. Her nights were spent thrashing, screaming, crying as she dreamed. She dreamed of patients being brought into St. Mungo's , their bodies mangled beyond recognition. She dreamed of her family, her sisters screaming at her for failing to stick with the pure-blood tradition. She dreamed of burying her cousin Regulus after he abandoned the Dark Lord's cause. And when Eliza thought she could take it no more, she dreamed of that fateful night, the night everything was lost.
During the war, Eliza had one obsession. She refused to take sides, afraid that her allegiance to Voldemort or to the Order of the Phoenix might destroy her happy family and career. But Eliza still felt like she had to do something, and even though it was not as brave or heroic as Sirius' foolish actions, her plan had a huge impact on deterring the Dark Lord. At least it would have if things had not gone so wrong.
Her weapon of choice was a potion. All they needed was a potion to prevent the drinker from being killed by Voldemort's preferred spell, Avada Kedavra. And perhaps the potion could revive those who had been hit with the dreadful spell if it was administered within minutes of death. As simple as the plan sounded, such a potion was so complex that no one else dared attempt it. Eliza was the right person for the job and she threw herself into the work, often disappearing for great lengths of time into the research lab at St. Mungo's
On the home front, Eliza's obsession was the only thing that she and her husband fought about. Of course Uriah wanted her to be successful, it would be terrible to want her to fail, but he was also concerned about her well-being. The long hours she spent at the hospital were draining, and she was pulling further and further away from her family. On top of everything, she was missing out on so many of her infant son's milestones. Young Leonidas had said his first word, taken his first steps, and Eliza missed those moments when she was holed up in the lab. Uriah loved his wife and was proud of her ambition, but he needed her at home too.
But when July 14 rolled around, the night of Eliza's twentieth birthday, she decided to do what Uriah had been begging her to do all year: take a night off and spend some time with the family. It was a wonderful night of good food and birthday cake. The three of them cuddled on the sofa and for a moment, Eliza forgot about the war raging on outside their home.
But shortly after settling Leonidas in his crib, Eliza received an urgent message from the hospital. There had been a massive attack on muggle borns and everyone was needed to help sort out the mess. Uriah understood, although he was undoubtedly disappointed, and he let her leave without argument.
The hospital was indeed a mess of injured witches and wizards, many of them severely mangled and burned. As the hours ticked by, Eliza sealed wounds and fed blood replenishing potions, desperately trying to avoid the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. She just knew that something was terribly wrong at home, and unable to stand it any longer, Eliza fled the hospital
Before her was a massive blaze, her home had been incinerated by magical fire. Above the scene, the Dark Mark glowed as brightly as the flames below. She ran towards her burning home, praying that Uriah had made it out with Leonidas. With her eyes on the flames as she ran, she stumbled on something in her front yard. Looking down, she saw the most terrible sight. Lying out on the freshly-mowed lawn was her husband; his eyes closed and in his arms was the baby who also appeared to be sleeping. She screamed their names as she tried to revive them but it was too late. The spell she was working so hard to deflect had taken the lives of the people she loved most.
Eliza had no idea how long she clutched her small family to her and cried. She had no idea who took her away or even how the next few days transpired. At the funeral, she was numb as she watched her husband and son being lowered into the ground. There were very few people there since Uriah had no living family members and they were never very popular. Just Eliza's sister Andromeda came, and her young pink-haired child, although Eliza did not know her name. Sirius also made a brief appearance, standing at the edge of the cemetery but not coming in to give condolences. Years later, Eliza was touched that some of her family had made an effort, but at the funeral she sought comfort in nobody. Instead, Eliza ran away. She left it all behind and found a new home on Spinner's End, away from magic and danger, the perfect place to wallow in grief.
But as Eliza read Melanie's letters and as she revisited the worst of her nightmares over and over again, she realized something. Eliza realized that Spinner's End was not the safe haven she thought it was all these years. The time had come for her to move again and hide herself more thoroughly. Or she could rise up against the evil and take back everything she had lost. She needed answers and she knew that there was only one place to get them. Looking over at her neighbor's dark house, Eliza needed desperately to talk to Severus Snape. They were only a month into the new term, but winter holidays, which would be the next time Snape would be coming home, couldn't come soon enough.
a/n: Thank you everyone for the reviews and favorite adds! I really appreciate it! This is my first fanfic so feel free to tell me what you think :)