(OotP) CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: Rest Up

El? Can you hear me? Please, God—Ellie!

I… Ellie squinted, trying to place herself and her surroundings. It was nearly pitch black wherever she was; all she could make out was a faint, distant, incandescent light coming from the far, upper end of the building—indicating to her that she might be in some sort of basement. I can hear you.

Where are you? What's going on?

"You might want to close your eyes."

Ellie barely had time to take this advice before a series of bright, ice-white lights flooded the room so heavily, they almost seemed to burn her skin.

"Where am I?" she shouted at Aleks, who was positioned safely on the outside of the cage from her, smirking.

"Somewhere no one will be finding you for a very long time," Aleks told her calmly. "So you may as well get comfortable."

She yanked her wand from her pocket, pointing it at him and shrieking, "Crucio!"

But nothing happened.

"Nice try," Aleks said with a chuckle. "A bit surprised you didn't go straight for the Killing Curse like you did for my father, but, then, I reckon you still want me to suffer a bit. Unfortunately for you, the cage is charmed. Any magic you perform stays within the confines of its bars."

Son of a bitch. Fred must have heard that, too. I'm going to kill him.

"What's the point of this, Aleks?" she demanded. "Why not just kill me?"

Could you please not put any ideas in his head?

"I told you," Aleks said evenly. "I want you to suffer. And thanks to all the showing off you've done, the Dark Lord wants you on our side. The former should be easy enough—magic might not be able to escape the cage, but it can certainly enter it. The latter, though, will take time. Eventually, though, you'll come around—with enough attempts at the former."

So his plan was to torture her until she gave up and willingly joined the Death Eaters? Fat chance of that happening.

"Lucky for you," Aleks said, "there seems to be trouble still brewing at the Ministry, and I'm needed there. I'll look forward to our next visit, though." He took a step closer to the cage, lowered his voice, and said, "If I were you, I'd rest up. Tomorrow is going to hurt."

And with that, he shut off the lights and Apparated out.

Fred, she said in Fred's head as soon as Aleks was gone. What's he talking about—trouble still brewing at the Ministry? I thought Dumbledore was handling all those Death Eaters?

He was, but then Voldemort showed up. He sounded like he was running—though to where, she wasn't sure. Dumbledore, Harry, and Voldemort disappeared together—to where, I'm not sure.

Ellie's heart flooded with fear for Harry at hearing that, but at least he was with Dumbledore, right?

Hang on a second, El, okay? I'm going to talk to the Order about this. If he comes back, tell me.

His shaky voice cut out of her head at that, but she clung on, focusing all her strength on zeroing in on his thoughts and surroundings the way he always used to for her. She had never managed to experience a conversation or situation from his perspective, but he had done so plenty of times with her, right?

To some extent, it worked. She wasn't quite able to see out of his eyes, but she could more or less hear what he was hearing.

"…do you mean, taken?" Sirius was demanding.

"I mean, he tricked her into a giant cage and transported the entire thing, with her in it!"

"Transported?" repeated Lupin, sounding confused. "To where?"

"I don't bloody know where!" Fred shouted. "Somewhere no one will be able to find for a very long time, according to Aleks!"

"Bloody hell," said Tonks. "Remus, what do you think? Should we report this to the Ministry? Albus said they were nearly here—"

"Your ring," Sirius interrupted. "Does she still have her locket on? Don't the arrows point to where you both are?"

Of course, Ellie thought with a gasp of excitement—the locator devices in their ring and locket! If he followed the arrows, they'd lead them to her.

But it only took a second for her to deduce from their disappointed sighs that it didn't work.

"The enchantments on the cage don't allow magic to escape it," Fred told them. "They must not allow her locket's location magic to leave it, either."

"You have a connection with her, though?" Sirius asked Fred, sounding confused. "You were still able to talk to her?"

"Well… yeah." He sounded a bit confused. "Come to think of it, I'm not sure how that hasn't stopped working, too. But it hasn't."

He had a point. If the cage didn't allow location-sharing magic, why would it allow thought-sharing magic?

I think it's just engrained that deeply into us at this point, he told her. Thank God neither of us took our potions.

She couldn't agree more. If she had taken that potion, she'd be all alone here, in the darkness, without a soul to speak to besides Aleks.

"Is she okay?" Sirius asked Fred. "Is she scared?"

Tell him I'm fine, Ellie said immediately. Are the Death Eaters still there? Are the rest of the students okay?

"She's asking about us," Fred told Sirius with a bit of a laugh. "Wants to know if everyone's okay."

"We're all fine, Ellie," said Tonks, who seemed to understand that Ellie was listening in. "Kingsley took the students back to Hogwarts—everyone but Harry, anyway, who's in the atrium with Dumbledore. We were able to capture the bulk of the Death Eaters, though Bellatrix got away."

Was there any sign of Peter Pettigrew? Ellie asked Fred. Did we catch him?

"Unfortunately not," Lupin said after Fred repeated this question out loud. "Stayed away intentionally, I reckon—so there was no chance of Ministry officials seeing him and starting to buy your story."

Speaking of which, said Ellie. If the Ministry is coming, Dad needs to get back to Grimmauld Place, and fast.

Fred repeated this to Sirius, who sighed. "I know. I'll start trying to work out a plan there. Fred, why don't you come with me?"

"Of course. I'll bring George, too."

"And the Ministry?" Tonks asked them. "Do we tell them Ellie's gone missing?"

"Yes," Sirius said immediately. "And you tell them exactly who took her."

It was hard to say whether Ellie lost consciousness from exhaustion, pain, overexertion of her shield, or simply because she fell asleep.

Whatever the reason, she was pleased to find that, not long after the darkness took hold of her, Fred showed up.

"Thank God," he said when he saw her. "I feared the worst when you didn't reply to my thoughts. Did you pass out, or just fall asleep?"

"Fell asleep," she said, despite not being entirely sure that was the case. "Dad make it back home safely?"

Fred nodded. "He's working on a plan with Mum, Dad, and George right now. Tonks and Lupin are going to come help as soon as they're done with the Ministry officials."

"And Harry and Dumbledore? What happened with Voldemort?"

"I'm not sure, exactly, but they're both okay and headed back to Hogwarts. And the Ministry officials showed up before Voldemort escaped, so they were finally forced to see him with their own eyes. Don't reckon they'll be able to deny his return much longer—especially with you missing."

That was something, at least.

"Enough about them," Fred said impatiently. He scanned her face carefully, seeming frustrated that this was only a dream and that he couldn't see the real her. "What were you talking about before—when you said it was the 'next-to-last symptom'?"

She looked away from him immediately, wishing she didn't have to do this but knowing perfectly well that he wouldn't rest until he knew. "I did a little research while you were away," she explained. "About the guy who came before me—Rupert Bowman."

"You mean, the guy who had the Perelli charm before you?"

She nodded. "He was forced to do the bidding of Grindelwald—the Voldemort of his time, from what I can tell—for years. When he finally escaped, he didn't last long. His symptoms started with the same sort of pain and fainting spells that I've been having for years, but then they escalated to nosebleeds, ear-bleeds, and, eventually, mouth and eye-bleeds."

"But…" He sounded confused—and very, very afraid. "You never had nosebleeds or ear-bleeds."

"Actually, I've been having both. Just… since you left."

He cursed, starting to pace. "I never saw that. I never saw you studying up on this stuff, either. Did you block it out intentionally?"

Now it was her turn to feel confused. "Exactly how often are you suggesting you were listening in on me this year?"

"Often enough to have seen you with Oliver, Dean, and Liam, if that's what you're wondering."

Ouch. She felt like she'd just been punched in the gut. "How was I supposed to know you were watching? You never exactly gave me any indication."

"I was trying to gauge whether what I had done was actually helping. Whether you stood a chance of finding happiness without me. When you started the musical career and went to Oliver, I thought…"

She waited, breath held. Where was he going with this?

"It was horrible," he said. "Seeing you with him. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to see. You seemed happy—which simultaneously told me that I had done the right and the wrong thing, all at once. But that next morning…"

She remembered it well. Those words of Oliver's were the ones that had echoed in her head at Azkaban, just before she took Liam's hand.

It's never over with you and Fred! I'm sorry that he hurt you, Ellie. I'm sorry that he keeps hurting you. If I could, I'd beat the guy to a pulp. He's a bloody fool. But eventually he's going to come crawling back, and you're going to forgive him.

And then, of course, the words that had stung her even worse—

You like being held by me because it reminds you of being held by him, Ellie. I like holding you because it reminds me of how much I want to hold you forever.

"I knew, then, that I had made a mistake," Fred said. "I knew that I should go back. But you were so far gone—so mad at me—and, aside from the pain of what you went through with Oliver… you seemed... happy."

"Happy?" she repeated, laughing out loud. "You think I was happy sporting ugly, pink hair, wearing lingerie in public, and singing shitty pop covers under the management of a guy who sexually harassed me within five minutes of meeting me?"

His expression darkened at that, and this time, it was he who looked away from her. "When you put it like that… no. But when your name was all over the papers, with headlines like The People's Princess—when people were finally starting to believe you and your dad…"

"You were all over the papers, too," she said darkly. "You and the joke shop."

He sighed. "It only made sense, El. We had to find a way to make money. I never wanted to rub it in your face."

She believed that. But it still had hurt.

"And then there was the other bloke," Fred said, tensing up again. "Liam."

From his tone, he may as well have been saying "Satan."

"He was different," Fred said. "It was hard for me to tell how you felt about him, and that scared me."

"He was different," Ellie admitted. Even now, being more or less back with Fred, she felt a tenderness toward Liam—a sense of love and gratitude for all he had done for her in Fred's absence. "He became... my rock, I guess. The person I could rely on when you were gone."

"You kissed him," Fred pointed out. The pain in his eyes was unmistakable. "You told him you could find a way to make it work. You wanted to be with him."

"I didn't." She felt guilty saying it out loud, but even Liam had known it; why deny it? "I was lonely, I was confused, and I thought I was dying. I never wanted any of it, Fred. Him, the fame... I never wanted to be some great, noble fighter, either. I had never pinpointed what I wanted to do with my life, but whenever I pictured my future, it was there—at that stupid joke shop—with the two of you."

He sighed, stepping closer to her and taking one of her hands in his. It wasn't real—she couldn't feel the warmth and safety of his touch like she could in real life—but it still helped. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

She knew.

He reached out his free hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, and it lingered there, cupping her cheek. He scanned her nose and mouth—for blood, if she had to guess—but, of course, he found none. She had no reason to bleed in her dreams.

"We'll get it sorted," he told her. "The mess with your shield. We'll figure out who his healers were back then, we'll find them, and they'll help us find a way to heal you."

She didn't believe him. If anyone knew how to heal her, they would have already done it.

But she appreciated the gesture.

"I really am sorry, Ellie," he said again. "I don't deserve your forgiveness—I know that—but I'll do whatever it takes to earn it."

"Well," she said, offering him a weak smile, "busting me out of here would be a good start."

His jaw tightened, and he nodded. "You're right. I should be with them, working on a plan. I'll go."

But she caught him by the hand, refusing to let him go.

"Work on it tomorrow," she told him. "For tonight, just be with me."

That's the end of Order of the Phoenix, ladies and gentlemen - with our heroine still imprisoned in her cage! How long will she be forced to spend there before her angry boyfriend and dad find a way to break her out - and what will happen while she's there? Things are going to get pretty dark pretty fast in the beginning of the next book, but at least Ellie and Fred are starting to work through things, right? I hope you enjoyed this roller coaster of an installment, and I hope you'll tune back in for the Half-Blood Prince! Only two books left in the series!