Chapter 31: Tainted Innocence

Many people were congratulating her on her newfound freedom while she clutched her uncle's hand tightly. They were surrounding them, as they chatted loudly, proclaiming about how this was important and how they are finally glad that she finally got justice after being in Azkaban for so long. Ella knew those words they were saying were hollow words, as there was no doubt that they really didn't care. They don't care about letting children go to Azkaban or else, she and Harry wouldn't have been in there in the first place, rotting there for years, until they realized that maybe this was wrong and that they should do something.

But she wasn't going to seem ungrateful, no matter how hypocritical adults were.

So, Ella made sure she was seen as grateful. She had a soft smile on her face, reserved for strangers as they continued to talk. Her mind was still wrapping around the one thing that was always a fleeting dream, and something destined to be out of her reach: freedom.

While her uncle chatted to all these strangers, her mind kept coming back to her family. She wondered how they were going to continue on. She knew she was the only thing that had them living, to continue to survive day by day, even with the suffering the dementors had brought with them, enduring each passing day.

She wondered how her parents were going to react when they found out that she wasn't going to return back to the cell. Ella wondered if they were wondering if she was going to be placed in another cell away from them, or if she finally got the impossible and was away from the place. It was almost a shame that she couldn't know their reaction, but she wasn't going to miss the dementors that roamed the place, condemning her for killing those muggles.

She snapped out of her thoughts as it became clearer that her uncle Lucius finally stopped chatting with strangers, and left the courtroom with Ella in tow. She felt wandering eyes as she quickly hurried her footsteps, her gaze focused on the ground, as they passed by many witches and wizards wearing dark-colored robes, carrying briefcases and parchments as they headed to their location, while she and Lucius continued upwards.

The lift ride was silent save for the flying airplanes on the roof of the lift, flying by, and the female voice announcing the floor levels and each department. She watched with curiosity as a witch carried a house pet that looked like a very tiny version of when Fenrir turned into a werewolf during the full moons, that was more fluffier and more cute looking than what Fenrir looked like. The animal had short, light brown hair, and small beady black eyes. The small animal was breathing small patches of fire, creating small wisps of dark smoke every time it exhaled. Ella watched as the older witch cooed and reassured the animal until they got off on a level.

"What is that?" Ella murmured, watching as the elderly witch and their animal around a corner, until they were no longer in sight.

"I don't know. It could be a chimera, but I'm not an animal expert. It's why they got off on level four," was all her uncle told her.

Ella simply nodded, and continued to stare ahead of her as the golden grates opened and closed until they got off on the atrium where more witches and wizards were crowded around the lifts, and around the fireplaces.

Ella looked around the room, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of people in one place. She held onto her uncle Lucius's hand tightly as he guided her through the crowd. They eventually stopped in front of a fireplace, and awaited as each time a person stepped in, they went up in green flames.

It only took a short wait, until it was their turn. Lucius stepped in the fireplace and Ella followed. Her uncle announced their destination and they soon went up in green flames. Ella closed her eyes, and clutched Lucius's robes tightly as the floo took them to the manor.

It took a little bit, and Ella almost fell face first if Lucius hadn't caught her by the back of her clothes.

Lucius didn't waste any time before he called someone- or well, something.

"Dobby," Lucius said.

An elf appeared right in front of them. Dobby was only roughly 15 centimeters smaller than she was (and she thought she was short). The elf had tennis-ball sized, green eyes, bat-like ears and a very large nose. He was wearing a tattered looking pillow-case that covered almost his entire body, besides his scrawny, little legs. It reminded her how much Ella's clothes were almost in the elf's condition, if not slightly worse.

"Yes, master?" the squeaky voice said.

"Go get Narcissa," Lucius ordered.

"Yes, master," Dobby said.

Ella watched in amazement as Dobby disappeared in another pop, the same way he had appeared.

It was clear they had time until Narcissa arrived into the room, so Ella took the chance to look around the room, as she never bothered to let go of Lucius's hand. It was so pristine looking. The room was dimly lit, with the two chandeliers hanging from the ceiling almost seemed to glisten as the light caught on it. It was so pretty looking. She loved the way the chandelier matched the décor of the room as there was a long ornate table in the center of the room, a pipe organ in the corner end of the room. Even the fireplace that they came out of was beautiful looking, with its ornate, marble, mantel that had a golden mirror hanging on top of it. Ella briefly glanced at her reflection before looking away, not wanting to look at her appearance as she knew it would most likely contain the gaunt, dead look that Azkaban gave its inhabitants. She noticed that there were several armchairs around the room, and the walls were purple that contained several portraits that contained pale blonde figures.

Footsteps soon approach them. It was padded, but she can still hear the click-clacking of small heels, approaching them. Ella briefly searched through her memories, to find a face towards a name, but even if she did have any memories of her Aunt Narcissa, she was too young to remember. She knew her mama told her stories about her aunt Narcissa, but she couldn't quite put a picture to the name. She felt her heartbeat increase, and she started to panic, so she did one thing- she hid her face in Lucius's robes.

She heard a small chuckle that came from Lucius. She felt hands pry her away from her uncle's robes, and she heard her uncle say,

"Come now, Elladora… It's just your aunt Narcissa."

Ella's interest was piqued up once she heard that. She turned her head gently, her small hands balled up with her uncle's robes, as she looked towards her aunt. Her Aunt Narcissa had long blonde hair, pale skin and icy, blue eyes. If Ella looked closely enough, she was able to find the features that her mother had on her face. It was almost comforting that while her mama wasn't there with her, she was still reminded of her features on her aunt's face.

"Elladora!" Narcissa greeted, crouching down to her level to give her a hug. "It's so good to see again, after so many years!"

With a gentle nudge from her uncle, Ella approached her aunt with open arms. She felt arms wrap around her- a strange sensation came over her. She wasn't used to the close contact that her aunt was giving her. She wasn't used to contact whatsoever, not even when Harry was in Azkaban. But she liked the warmth that the hug gave her, and she instantly wanted to stay in the hug forever.

She felt safe, and loved.

Ella didn't realize when tears started streaming down her face, as she realized that her vision was cloudy and had to blink several times to clear it. She realized the extent of today's events and now more than ever, she wished for her parents back. This was her first time apart, away from them, in years and she realized that she might possibly not see her parents for a while- not until Harry brought back the Dark Lord.

She wasn't going to hear her parents' voices. She wasn't going to hear their chatter, or how they reminisce on the good times, or how they told stories to pass the time.

For the first time in a long time, she felt very uncertain about her future.

And that frightened her.

She felt soothing circles on her back, as she cried in her aunt's arms.

Through her sobs, she heard her aunt tell her,

"You'll be okay, Elladora," Narcissa reassured her. "I know it's hard for you, and I know you feel overwhelmed… I promise you, I will take care of you like you were my own, until my sister, your mom and her husband get out."

Ella sniffed.

"When will that be?" Ella asked in a low voice.

"Soon, I hope," Narcissa said. "We're trying… We're really lucky that you got out of that place… I'm sure you must be hungry, and anxious so let's get you cleaned up, give you some fresh clothes and a hot meal that will make you feel better."

Ella smiled at that, through her tears, all the while thinking,

Sure, she was lucky, but at what cost?

…

The cost of being in Azkaban was apparent as Ella stood in front of the bathroom mirror that had a golden frame. Aunt Cissa, as Narcissa asked for her to call her, on the way to her room, helped her take off her prisoner uniform, and set the bathwater to the right temperature. She saw the way Narcissa looked at her with a frown on her face as Ella truly caught sight of what she truly looked like.

Azkaban did a number on her small, skinny frame. She was skinny to the point where some of her bones were protruding out of her skin. Her skin was pale, and transparent. It was clear that you could count the number of ribs in her ribcage. Ella's skin was pale, caked with dirt, mud and grime and looked like she was very overdue for a good cleaning. Her face was splotchy with redness from crying, snot covered her nose, but it was the fact that Azkaban left its mark on her, with her dead gaunt face. Her cheeks were hollow and sunken in. There was nothing in her eyes as her loose curls, matted with knots and grime, hung loosely around her head.

She was only nine-years-old, and she already went through so much.

Her gray eyes flickered towards her aunt to see her reaction, but her aunt didn't display much. Instead, she gave her a small smile and she guided Ella into the porcelain tub. Ella looked at the white bubbles that covered the water, and she looked at her aunt with a worried expression on her face.

"You'll be okay," Narcissa told her, "The water will help relax you and will be easier to clean off the dirt that clings to your skin."

Ella only looked at her in response.

Narcissa summoned a couple of toys with her wand, and they fell in the tub with a small plop in the water. Ella looked at them with curiosity, afraid to touch them as they floated on the water, occasionally, breathing bubbles.

"Why, don't you go play for a little bit, and I'll be right back to help wash you up?" Narcissa suggested.

She stood up from her kneeling position with a soft smile as she left Ella alone in the bathtub, and the bathroom alone.

She studied the toys. There were several creatures that she had no idea what they looked like with a winged body, but had a head shaped like a bird. There were also some fishes that breathed with the occasional bubbles that came out of their mouth, and several sea dragons that would move its fins on its own, but that's all it did. Ella hadn't seen a toy in years, not since she was in the orphanage, and even then, all her toys were either stolen, broken or mysteriously vanished.

It'd been so long since she saw them, and she almost forgot how to play. She picked up a sea dragon hesitantly, and looked at its blue-green scales and pushed it ahead in the water, watching as its fins moved, pretending like it was swimming.

A tear slipped down her cheek as she realized that she was only a child.

A child that had seen too much, and experienced very little.

So much was taken from her in her short span of nine years.

…

Narcissa had a hard time holding back her tears as she stepped out of the bathroom. Lucius stood right next to the doorway, concern written all over his face. Narcissa approached him, tears clinging to her eyelashes as Lucius took his wife in his arms.

Narcissa knew it was going to be bad. After all, spending roughly six years in Azkaban can do that to a person, but sending a three-year-old in Azkaban, was just unforgivable.

She still could remember the day where she found out from the news that her sister and husband were captured. It'd been a little over three years after the Dark Lord was vanquished, most of the Death Eaters had been rounded up by then. Bella, Rodolphus, Rabastan and Barty got lucky in evading the aurors until they decided to torture the Longbottoms for the Dark Lord's whereabouts. Bella reassured her that nothing was going to happen, and she would return before Elladora would even realize that they were gone.

They both knew the risk and even had a plan, in case anything bad happened to Bella and her husband, one of the house elves was going to deliver Elladora to them. Yet, it seemed that Dumbledore expected that and instead took Elladora away in that filthy muggle orphanage, where who knows what went on there, behind closed doors.

"Oh, Lucius, she's so thin," Narcissa said. "You should have seen how bad it is."

"I know," Lucius murmured, "I can't understand why Dumbledore thought it was a good idea to put a three year old in Azkaban."

Narcissa pursed her lips and shook her head. She wasn't going to press further, and instead asked, "DId the ministry decide to compensate her for wrongful imprisonment?"

"Madam Bones has decided to give her fifty thousand gallons in reparations; ten thousand for each year she has been in prison…"

"Is that it?"

"Unfortunately, so," Lucius sighed. "I tried to get the ministry to pay for St. Mungo's treatment, in getting her to see a mind healer but… Dumbledore was pretty adamant and said that fifty thousand gallons was enough."

"Whenever I get my hands on Dumbledore, he's going to wish for death to bring him mercy," Narcissa hissed.

"You and everyone else, my dear."

"She was- is just a child. And yet, she's a victim of this war, and is expected to be just fine," Narcissa told him. She took a deep breath before she continued on, "Summon Healer Jackson, and tell him to do a diagnostics, and bring his kit… I'm going to help Elladora wash up."

Narcissa stepped back in the bathroom, wiping away any tears that clinged onto her eyelashes before Elladora was able to see them. She approached Elladora, and knelt down to her level.

"Alright, let's get you cleaned up really good," She told Ella. "After that, I have a healer coming over to do a check up and understand the full extent of your health, and any problems you may have. It shouldn't take long, and I'll give you something easy for your stomach so we can get you to start eating normally again, is that okay?"

Elladora just shrugged.

Narcissa took that as a yes, and proceeded to wash Elladora up. She was careful with washing Ella up, and helped lather her hair multiple times, taking care of her curls, and the way she reacted when the water touched her scalp, as she let out a small yelp, and flinched when the water came streaming down her head.

It took a little bit, but Narcissa finally finished Elladora up. She dried her hair with a quick drying spell, and resized some of her clothes for her. She guided Elladora onto her bed, and a house-elf delivered a small bowl filled with porridge and a cup of water.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Narcissa said. "I'm going to find the healer."

Narcissa didn't have to venture far to find Healer Jackson. She was talking to Lucius in hush voices. Her dark brown hair was up in a tall ponytail, with her dark brown skin contrasted nicely against the white robes she wore. She had a small smile graced on her features as she looked over to the side as Narcissa approached her.

"Lady Malfoy, it's such a pleasure to see you again," Healer Jackson greeted.

"Healer Jackson." Narcissa gave her a small smile, "Thank you for coming here on such a short notice."

"Of course, you know how I'd do anything for the Malfoy family," Healer Jackson said. "Now, what is really important is that you called me here on such short notice?"

"You'll see," Narcissa told her.

Narcissa guided Healer Jackson to Elladora's room, where Elladora was currently looking down at the bowl of warm porridge in her lap, barely touched. Elladora looked up, her gray eyes looked at them, betraying nothing.

"Elladora, this is Healer Jackson… She's going to look over you, okay?" Narcissa told her.

Healer Jackson approached the bed, and pulled out her kit. She pulled out her wand and summoned a piece of parchment before looking over at the young girl, and casting a diagnostic charm on her. Narcissa watched as the parchment grew as the list of injuries, and health problems became apparent until it stopped until it was a couple of meters off from touching the floor.

"I've never seen anything this bad, not even after a raid," Healer Jackson, "Severe malnourishment, severe dehydration, vitamin d, b, c deficiency, anemia, hypothermia, among other diseases and problems." She showed Narcissa the parchment, and Narcissa barely contained her reactions as she read through it fully.

Besides the ones that Healer Jackson mentioned, there was also the possibility of Elladora having rickets disease, growth stunted, and deformities. The almost six years in Azkaban caused a lot of damage in Elladora, and she was almost afraid of what her sister, and the other Death Eaters got out of Azkaban.

"I'd recommend giving her these potions." Healer Jackson gave Narcissa several potions, each of them different colors and sizes.

Narcissa quickly recognized each of the potions, and took note of each one and when to give to Elladora.

"Thank you."

…

Night slipped under the hills as the last remaining rays of sunlight disappeared from view, leaving darkness in its wake. It'd been hours since Ella heard the news she was free, and started her new life with the Malfoy family.

She had a small smile on her face as she clutched a stuffed dragon, which was one of Draco's favorite stuffed animals when he was younger that Narcissa explained to her, when she gave it to Ella, along with several of his toys that he no longer played with too much. Ella wasn't complaining because she came from practically nothing; this was a stark difference compared to what her life was, up until a few hours ago.

"Do you want a night light to help you sleep?" Narcissa asked her.

Ella paused for a few seconds, the thought pondering in her head. She was never afraid of the dark. She hated the creatures that lived in the dark- the dementors that always brought dread, and guilt with them, along with a touch of hopelessness.

But, she was free- she was away from them.

Away from her family, her parents, but away from the dementors.

"No," She told her.

"Okay," Narcissa said. "Would you like a bedtime story to help you sleep?"

A huge smile was seen on Ella's face. It'd been so long since someone told her an actual story, not since Harry got out. Her mama and papa knew stories, but had troubles remembering what would happen in the book, or it was just stories about when her parents were younger or tales about Death Eaters. There weren't many stories from books, but that was what Harry was for.

"Alright… Which story?"

Ella didn't have to think about it before she exclaimed, "The Tale of the Three Brothers!"

Without saying another word, Narcissa summoned the book sitting on a bookshelf. It was still a decent-looking copy, despite looking like it was well-loved. The corners of the book were nicked, and cardboard was seen peeking out of the cover. She flipped through the pages until she reached The Tale of the Three Brothers, and started reading,

"There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure."

Eventually, Ella slipped into dreamland. It wasn't a particularly settling dream as she soon started twitching. First her fingers, then her toes as she began to toss in turn in the bed.

She was back in Azkaban, the ocean's waves crashing outside of the prison. The silver bars and the dirty floor surrounded her, but the only difference was- no one was there.

She couldn't see anyone.

She was alone.

She was met with silence as dementors started to loom closer and closer. She looked around, hoping to find at least one familiar face- or anyone whatsoever, but there was no one. She couldn't hear anything, no human voices. The only sounds she could hear was her own breathing and the ocean's waves.

She didn't notice until she felt the familiar goosebumps on her body, as her hair raised up, shuddering as she felt the familiar presence of the dementors come over her. Ella knew running away wouldn't do anything as they always got what they wanted. She saw their movement from the corner of the eye, the flash of a rotting claws picked her up by her tattered uniform.

She was suspended in midair. She started kicking, but was no use as the dementors closed in, and opened their mouths to reveal nothing…

"Elladora!"

She whipped her around, to try and find the source of the voice, but couldn't find anybody. She was still alone as the dementors continued to suck out her soul, and was going to give her the kiss.

"Elladora!"

Ella tried one more time to find the source of the voice, but she felt the last bits of her soul leave her body…

Ella was up, her heart beating loudly in her chest as she looked around. She was safe. She was still in Malfoy's Manor. She was safe, she was away from Azkaban and its inhabitants.

"Are you okay?" She heard her aunt say, her fingers combing through her hair. Ella caught sight of the reflection of Narcissa's blue eyes from the glow of the moonlight. "You had a nightmare."

"Sorry," she murmured.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

Tears started gathering in her eyes and she quickly broke down, as she told Narcissa what happened in her dream, about how she was back in Azkaban, alone and the dementors finally gave her the kiss. All the while as Narcissa soothed her, and cuddled her until she felt safe, and sleep would overtake her.

Y'all might cry with this chapter. Anyways, hi, I did not mean to just stop updating my stories like that but considering the fact that my intrusive thoughts were very strong, dental problems, holidays, and my new job, it's not a surprise. Don't expect quicker updates because I am now buried in school work, and it just started.

A reminder, this kids are traumatized, are not okay. No matter how "adult" they may act, or how childish they are, they are still kids, and don't know how to act their age.

Another thing, would y'all like a separate story just based off of Ella, and her dealing with her own set of trauma? It's probably going to be a short-story like 10 chapters max, but like I thought it would be a cool thing, because I can't put everything I want to with her in this.