Chapter 26

Elle was covered in mud. There was mud in her hair, under her nails, even, she realized with a gag, in between her teeth. She was dimly aware of a dull roar around her as she got up from where she had been sprawled on the mud. She was glad that her quidditch kit was dark blue, because there were definitely grass stains on her elbows and knees.

Just as she was getting to her feet, her team landed beside her, and she returned their wide smiles with her own muddy grin. Professor Blanco landed not far off, and soon after the Hufflepuff substitute captain, a seventh-year girl Elle did not know by name, was storming across the field calling foul. Elle knew that was coming. It had been a bit of a questionable move, diving for a dropped quaffle directly in the way of the Hufflepuff seeker who was streaking after the snitch. But it had technically been regulation. Louis was already running hurriedly in their direction, holding the official quidditch handbook aloft. "Section C of the rules and regulations of bodily interference, subsection iii. "a player cannot be fouled for flying in the path of, or reasonably expected path of, another player if the path they take is a reasonable attempt at regaining possession of the ball associated with their position." Louis took a deep breath, seeming like he was going to go on and read the entire rest of the section, when Professor Blanco cleared his throat. "Yes, Mr. Weasley, I am well aware of the guidelines." Louis blushed and closed the book.

"Are you meaning to tell me that was a reasonable attempt of path or whatever he just said?!" the Hufflepuff keeper demanded. Professor Blanco turned to Elle, raising an eyebrow to prompt her to defend herself. Elle just raised the quaffle she still held in her hand. "I caught it, didn't I?" Professor Blanco's mouth did not twitch but his deep blue eyes twinkled. "NO FOUL" he shouted out. His voice magically amplified to fill the stadium. There was a roar of approval from the side decked out in blue and silver, and spectators started making their way to the field. Elle turned back to her team, many of whom were patting her on the back. "Good catch, Tom" Elle said, and the seeker smiled, holding the snitch victoriously over his head. "couldn't have done it without you." "Or me!" Archie cut in, his cheeks red from the crisp air "Elle only got the chance to dive because I dropped the bloody pass." Elle smiled, supressing a laugh "a team effort."

"Right. A team effort" Isla said, gesturing that the entire team put their hands in for a cheer. Lester made a point of placing his hand directly over Elle's. She took that as his sincerest attempt at an apology and accepted it by not moving her own hand away. The team raised their arms to the sky, their bird call drowned out by the cheers and congratulations from their classmates who had made their way to the field.

Elle didn't even try to find her friends in the dense crowd and let herself be passively carried back to the castle, and then back to Ravenclaw tower by the current of bodies heading to celebrate. The party was starting early today, maybe because this was a higher stakes game (Ravenclaw had cinched their seat in the finals thanks to their high score), or maybe simply because the game had run late enough that it was deemed acceptable to start a party. Either way, Elle was not filled with the same thrill she had been the first time she had been invited to a post-quidditch celebration.

Flying had done the trick it always did, and her mind had been blank for a few glorious hours. But now the adrenaline was fading, and reality was coming back to her. It had been over a month since she had seen her mother in the fireplace. Over a month of silence. For the first little while, Elle had waited excitedly at breakfast for the owls to swoop overhead. She had peeked out the window of her dorm room every morning and every night. But nothing had come.

Nothing had come, and four of her very good friends had been punished trying to help her. Rose was the only one who openly complained about being behind in school due to all the detentions she was serving, but Elle knew that Ruth was behind too. Albus tried to play it nonchalant, but she knew that missing two weeks of class had been terrible for his grades. Even Scorpius, who was always even-tempered, had a pinched look to his face when he left the library at night with a stack of unfinished work shoved back into his bag. All of it was her fault.

Elle was selfish. She hated that her friends had suffered for her. What she hated more though, was the tiny, niggling thought in the back of her mind that had been festering since the first Saturday of March. You would have seen your mum if you had gone alone. She knew it was stupid, to be begrudge her friends for the kindness and loyalty they had shown. But she could not deny to herself that if it hadn't been for the watch they had tried to keep, she would have had the time to speak to the apparition in the fire. She would have been able to speak with her mum. And there was a part of her that could not get over that. And there was a bigger part of herself that hated her for that.

Elle really didn't feel like partying at all.

Elle stayed for the player of the game ceremony (Archie, "for the most strategically dropped pass the team has ever seen"), and the team cheer (though her heart really wasn't in it). She held the bottle of butterbeer she was offered without cracking it open. The first chance she got, Elle snuck up the stairs and returned to her dorm.

She had long since given up hope of receiving another letter, and so it was only the thought of lying in bed with the curtains drawn, trying to get lost in a book, that lured her upstairs. That, and the thought of trying to laugh and smile in the raucous group of students below her made her feel a little ill.

One glance in the room was enough to confirm that Ruth was not up here – she was probably at the library, Elle thought with a lurch. Clementine Kettleburn however, was very much present. "Oooh Elle, what are you doing up here so early?" she said, looking up from her copy of Witch's Weekly. Elle sighed. "Just tired from flying." She turned away from Clementine on purpose, trying to hide her face. Elle really needed to work on masking her annoyance.

Elle rummaged through Ruth's bedside table. Ruth had a novel that she had told Elle she could borrow, "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." It was supposed to be a storybook for magical children, and Elle was exceptionally curious to read them. She wondered idly what it would be like to have been raised magical, and her thoughts turned back to her mother (as they always did, eventually). That was, until Clementine said something casually that turned Elle's blood to ice.

"Your Mum is a bit early, don't you think?" she giggled, still flipping through the pages of her magazine. "What do you mean?" Elle asked, hoping that Clementine hadn't looked up long enough to see the way her back had tensed. "The eggs, silly" Clementine replied, giggling again "doesn't she know Easter isn't until next week?"

Elle tried to make a noncommittal noise, but it came out like she was choking. It took every ounce of willpower she had to walk slowly towards her bed. Sure enough, there was a beautiful basket resting near her pillow, with a dozen large chocolate easter eggs resting on bits of shredded multicolour paper. "Love Mum" was written in large block letters on a tag. Elle carefully lifted each egg from their place and tried to shift through the paper without looking suspicious. Clementine wasn't paying her much attention anyways.

When her search came up empty, Elle turned her attention towards the eggs. One by one, she broke each one open. She didn't care if Clementine thought it was weird anymore. Her excitement was mounting with each second. The final egg was the largest, and she broke it open so aggressively it crumbled into pieces in her hands. And there it was. A letter.

The door opening was so loud and unexpected Elle jumped about a foot in the air. "Woah" Evelyn said, laughing. Elle blushed, "sorry, you scared me." What had really scared Elle was the flash of black hair she'd caught out of the corner of her eye. For a second, she'd thought it was Ruth, returning from the library.

The fear that had risen in her belly was enough for Elle to realize what she wanted to do. She grabbed the letter and headed swiftly out the door. The voice in the back of her mind was crooning. No more selfishness. Nobody to get in her way.

Elle's feet found their way to a familiar, comfy spot – the kitchens. She curled up in the stuffy armchair, her fingers opening the envelope with some difficulty. The letter was only a few words long, but it was enough to get her to rise from her chair with such abrupt excitement that Zella dropped the mug of tea she had been bringing to her in surprise.

"AH" "Oh. Sorry Zella" Elle said, rushing to help her pick up the shattered porcelain despite her hurry. She rose, her eyes meeting the clock. The time she read made her heart stutter. Just as she was turning to go, James Potter entered the kitchen, followed closely behind by Daffyd Jones. An idea sparked in her head.

"I need the map" Elle said rushing over to the older boys. Daffyd gawked at James. "She knows about the map?" he asked incredulously. James blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about" he said through gritted teeth, indicating with side glances that he would not talk freely with Daffyd with him. But Elle did not have time for this.

"You owe me one. You promised." She threatened. James floundered, clearly unsure. Elle made the decision easy for him. She snatched the map out of his back pocket with deft hands. "OI" Daffy shouted. Elle really had had enough of his interfering. "Mimble wimble" she muttered, not looking up from the map but pointing at the gesticulating boy with her wand. Immediately, Daffyd lost his voice. She grinned to herself. Isidre had been right. That was easier than silencio.

"How do I get the map to show up?" Elle said, looking at James, who was looking between Daffyd and Elle with delight. This was clearly something Daffyd would never live down. "It's easier if you just tell me what you want" James said, running his fingers through his hair and shaking his head in disbelief. Daffyd was still trying to make noises, but not getting any coherent words out.

Elle's eyes flashed fiercely. "I want a way out of the school."

Albus had one arm hooked under Rose's shoulder, as Sam pulled her by the other. The two of them were dragging her, quite literally, out of the library. The mid spring sun was low enough in the sky to throw rays of light through the multicoloured panes of the stained glass, and Albus was hungry, goddamnit. It was time for dinner. And he was not going to let Rose skip out on the meal. The group had let her do that once, and when they had returned to the library later in the evening, she had been so insufferably irritable that they had collectively vowed to never let it happen again. No matter what it took.

Rose was still loudly voicing her protests when James raced past them in the hall, did a double take, turned around, and ran back to stop in front of them. He was out of breath. "There you are! I need your help making sense of this" the older boy looked distressed. Albus grabbed the piece of parchment in his hand. He quickly scanned the content, Rose peering over his shoulder to do the same. "Where did you get this?" Albus asked. James winced.

"Elle. I think she gave it to me by mistake, when she handed me back the ma-, when she handed me something else." A terrible knot started twisting in Albus' stomach. Something about the letter didn't sit right with him. "Where is Elle?" he asked. James' face took on a pained expression. "I told her how to sneak off school grounds." Before Albus had time to reply, he was surprised by Isidre ripping the letter from his hands. The small boy's face went white. "Is there a way we can catch up with her?" he asked desperately, grabbing Ruth's wrist to check the time and blanching even further.

James' mind seemed to be going a mile a minute. "There is a way. A more direct way, to where she's going. We might be able to cut her off. But we need to leave now." "Shouldn't we get McGonagall? Squeaked Rose. "There's no time!" James shouted. He was already half-way down the hall, Isidre and Sam hot on his heels. Albus raced to keep up, shooting a terrified look at Scorpius, who returned it equally. Something was going wrong. He could feel it in his bones.

Albus followed James, who sprinted across the castle, and damn near halfway across the grounds. They watched as he lifted a large rock, aiming it precisely at a knot on the gnarled roots of the whomping willow, a tree that Albus had not gotten within ten meters of his entire time at Hogwarts for fear of its violent temper. There was a reason James was a celebrated chaser. The rock landed true to his aim, and the tree was immediately immobilized.

Elle had lost the letter somehow, but it made no difference. She had committed the words to memory the second she had read it. "Meet me on the porch bench of the shrieking shack at 5p.m. Mum." It had been 4:05 when she'd read the letter, according to the clock on the kitchen's mantlepiece. It had probably taken her thirty minutes to follow the passage James had told her about. She'd come out in the basement of a sweets shop, just like he'd said she would. And it had taken her five minutes to get out of the shop. In her haste and excitement, it had taken her that long to calm down enough to put the disillusionment charm on effectively. And now it had taken her ten minutes to sprint out of town towards the shrieking shack.

Elle was glad she paid attention to the older students when they had pointed out the direction on the Hogsmeade platform, hoping to scare the younger students. But even knowing the general direction, she missed the turn off the first time and had to double back. It had taken her another five minutes by her best estimate. And now she had five minutes to make it to the bench. The disillusionment charm fell off in the effort it required to redouble her sprint.

Five… four… three… two… one. Elle gasped, her breath like fire in her chest. She'd made it, with just enough time to spare. She was just sitting down on the bench when all of her friends burst through the door with a loud clatter. Elle had no time to react. The bench she sat on had started to faintly glow.

It was Isidre who leapt forward, his wand held aloft. Elle wasn't sure if she had just imagined it, but it looked like there was some sort of energy pulsing from his wand that held the rest of her friends back. "Elle" he screamed. The bench was glowing bright blue now, and Elle was starting to feel as if something was off. "INVISIBLE. NOW." Elle didn't have time to consciously react. There was something in the desperation in Isidre's voice that made her obey at once. She watched as the small boy's hand slapped on to the arm of the bench, just as she felt the disillusionment charm take effect. A millisecond later, Elle had the sensation of a large hook pulling her violently from the middle, and suddenly she was hurtling through the darkness.