#ElizabethKaneandtheHalfBloodPrince

[braveclementine]

Prologue

Warnings: 18+ readers only, mentions of smut, mentions of nudity

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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𝕳𝖊 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖎𝖓 his small house, ignoring the outside world, completely immersed in the sheets of his bed, kissing the love of his life, when there was a knock at the door. His wife showed the most fleeting of emotion of fear, and then was gone, having turned into a small black animal with white paws and green eyes.

She called herself a cat but she was more of a kitten- to small to be called a cat. She was already by the door, not needing to have gotten dressed. He however, quickly threw his clothes on and smoothed his hair back, checking himself in the mirror before he left the bedroom door. He looked almost completely normal though perhaps his cheeks were slightly flushed more than normal.

She was on his heels as he walked out of the room and into the sitting room and opened the door. Elizabeth climbed onto the sofa and was stretching. Sometimes she was so catlike he could forget she was an Animagus.

There were two women standing on the front steps and his anger increased. So he'd left his lovely wife for these two? What the hell did they want?

"Narcissa, what a pleasant surprise. . . and Bellatrix. . . not so pleasant." He said, opening the door wider and letting them come in.

"Snape." Bellatrix said curtly, as she came in.

"Severus, I must speak with you, it's urgent." Narcissa pleaded.

"But of course."

He gestured the sofa to Narcissa and she threw her cloak off and casted it aside and sat down, her white hands, trembling, clasped in her lap. Bellatrix lowered her hood and did not take her gaze off of him as she moved to stand behind her sister.

He lowered himself into an arm chair and Elizabeth jumped up onto his lap, curling up into a ball and closing her large green eyes.

"Is that an Animagus?" Bellatrix asked, her eyes now on Elizabeth.

He snorted, playing casual and dismissive though his heart started to beat just a little irregularly. "Of course not. She was born from my last cat. Only a year old now. So unless your saying Animagus can be born, Bellatrix. . ."

"I was just asking." Bellatrix snapped.

His lip curled. One of Elizabeth's ears twitched but other than her tail, nothing else moved. "So what can I do for you?" He asked, looking at Narcissa.

"We. . . we are alone, aren't we?" Narcissa asked quietly.

"Yes, of course. Well, Wormtail's here, but we're not counting vermin are we?" He asked and flicked his wand towards the wall of books which revealed the hidden staircase where Wormtail had been hidden, listening. "As you have clearly realized, Wormtail, we have guests."

Wormtail crept into the room. His small eyes were watery and he was wearing that horrible simpering look Severus hated so much. "Narcissa!" He squeaked, his hands coming up in front of his chest like paws. "And Bellatrix! How Charming-"

"Wormtail will get us drinks, if you'd like them. And then he will return to his bedroom." Severus said in a lazy voice and added in his head, 'and hopefully you two will leave and I can go back to mine'. Unconsciously, he laid his hand on Elizabeth's head and started to pet it. She purred with content.

"I am not your servant!" Wormtail squeaked and he noticed that he had avoided his eyes.

"Really? I was under the impression that the Dark Lord placed you here to assist me." He said, trying to sound amused.

"To assist, yes- but not to make you drinks and- and clean your house!" Wormtail argued. Not that he did much cleaning in the first place. Elizabeth usually ended up doing it when Wormtail left. And of course, he didn't want that but she always insisted, saying she needed something to do. But perhaps it was simply because of what she'd said before- not taking anything for granted.

"I had no idea, Wormtail, that you were craving more dangerous assignments." He said silkily. "This can be easily arranged: I shall speak to the Dark Lord-"

"I can speak to him myself if I want to!" Wormtail said, enraged.

"Of course you can." He was sneering now, "But in the meantime, bring us drinks. Some of the elf-made wine will do."

Wormtail hesitated for a moment and then went away through a different hidden door. In fact, if a Muggle were to enter the house, they would think the sitting room was the only room in the house, despite the size of it on the outside. Every door in the main room was hidden. There were banging sounds in the kitchen and then Wormtail came back with a dusty bottle and three glasses and slammed the other hidden door behind him as he went up the stairs.

He got up, putting Elizabeth down on the floor so that he pour the three glasses of red wine and gave each other to the others, taking his own and moving to sit back down and saw that Elizabeth had jumped back up on the chair, curling up in the middle of it.

"Damn cat," he sighed, putting his glass of wine on the side table and picked her up and put her on his lap. She stretched out like a rug, purring. He petted her as though she were a real cat and damn, she really was acting like it. It must be a gift of hers- acting. She'd managed to convince Dolores Umbridge that Sirius was hiding in Thailand- not that it mattered now. He tried not to think of Sirius.

"The Dark Lord." He said, raising the glass. Bellatrix and Narcissa copied him and he refilled their glasses.

Then Narcissa said, "Severus, I'm sorry to come here like this, but I had to see you. I think you are the only one who can help me-"

Severus held his hand up and pointed his wand back at the bookcase. There was a loud band and he heard Wormtail squeal and there were footsteps up the stairs as he ran away like the little coward he was.

"My apologies." He said calmly, "He has lately taken to listening at doors, I don't know what he means by it. . . You were saying Narcissa?"

"Severus, I know I ought not to be here, I have been told to say nothing to anyone, but-"

"Then you ought to hold your tongue! Particularly in present company!" Bellatrix snapped, interrupting her sister.

"'Present Company'? And what am I to understand by that, Bellatrix?" He asked.

"That I don't trust you, Snape, as you very well know!" She exclaimed.

Narcissa let out a sob and covered her face with her hands. Elizabeth's ear twitched again. She hated when people cried, no matter who they were.

He set his glass down on the table and sat back, putting one arm lazily across the arm of the chair and petted Elizabeth with the other. "Narcissa, I think we ought to hear what Bellatrix is bursting to say; it will save tedious interruptions. Well, continue, Bellatrix. Why is it that you do not trust me?" He sounded amused. Good.

"A hundred reasons!" Bellatrix said so loudly that he didn't doubt Wormtail could hear from upstairs. She strode around the sofa and slammed her glass down on the table too. "Where to start! Where were you when the Dark Lord fell? Why did you never make any attempt to find him when he vanished? When have you been doing all these years that you've lived in Dumbledore's pocket? Why did you stop the Dark Lord procuring the Sorcerer's Stone? Why did you not return at once when the Dark Lord was reborn? Where were you a few weeks ago when we battled to retrieve the prophecy for the Dark Lord? Why haven't you handed over Elizabeth Kane? And why, Snape, is Harry Potter still alive, when you have had him at your mercy for five years!"

He had to cover a wince because Elizabeth had dug her claws into his leg when Bellatrix mentioned the duel for the prophecy. She meowed softly and turned her head away from the sisters as though rolling over and he saw tears coming out of her large green eyes and she quickly closed them.

Bellatrix was breathing hard, having gotten everything off of her chest and he smiled. "Before I answer you- oh yes, Bellatrix, I am going to answer! You can carry my words back to the others who whisper behind my back, and carry false tales of my treachery to the Dark Lord! Before I answer you, I say, let me ask you a question in turn. Do you really think that the Dark Lord has not asked me each and every one of those questions? And do you really think that, had I not bee able to give satisfactory answers, I would be sitting here talking to you?"

He felt Elizabeth shift on his lap again.

Bellatrix hesitated. "I know he believes you, but. . ."

"You think he is mistaken? Or that I have somehow hoodwinked him? Fooled the Dark Lord, the greatest wizard, the most accomplished Legilimens the world has ever seen!" He continued, raising an eyebrow. Oh yes, he'd kept the Dark Lord out of his mind mostly. He had to protect Elizabeth of course. If he found they were married. . . if he even found out he had feelings for Elizabeth. . .

Bellatrix remained silent.

Of course. . . they weren't really married. . . yet. . . her father wouldn't let her until she turned of age. . .

"You ask where I was when the Dark Lord fell. I was where he had ordered me to be, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, because he wished me to spy upon Albus Dumbledore. You know, I presume, that it was on the Dark Lord's orders that I took up the post?"

Bellatrix gave the slightest of nods and then opened her mouth to speak but he stopped her and said, "You ask why I did not attempt to find him when he vanished. For the same reason that Avery, Yaxley, the Carrows, Greyback, Lucius and many others did not attempt to find him. I believed him finished. I am not proud of it, I was wrong, but there it is. . . If he had not forgiven we who lost faith at that time, he would have very few followers left."

"He'd have me! I, who spent many years in Azkaban for him!" Bellatrix said with a passion.

"Yes, indeed, most admirable. Of course, you weren't a lot of use to him in prison, but the gesture was undoubtedly fine-" Severus said in a bored voice.

"Gesture! While I endured the dementors, you remained at Hogwarts, comfortably playing Dumbledore's pet!" Bellatrix shrieked.

"Not quite. He wouldn't give me the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, you know. Seemed to think it might, ah, bring about a relapse. . . tempt me into my old ways."

"This was your sacrifice for the Dark Lord, not to teach your favorite subject? Why did you stay there all that time, Snape? Still spying on Dumbledore for a master you believed dead?" Bellatrix jeered.

Severus felt a brief flicker of annoyance. He still wasn't entirely sure why Dumbledore didn't give him the post. That was the reason he'd come up with.

"Hardly, although the Dark Lord is pleased that I never deserted my post: I had sixteen years of information on Dumbledore to give him when he returned, a rather more useful welcome-back present than endless reminiscences of how unpleasant Azkaban is. . ." Severus said calmly.

"But you stayed-"

"Yes, Bellatrix, I stayed." Severus said, starting to get impatient. Elizabeth rolled over onto her back, stretching her legs upwards and then collapsed onto her side. "I had a comfortable job that I preferred to a stint in Azkaban. They were rounding up the Death Eaters, you know. Dumbledore's protection kept me out of jail; it was most convenient and I used it. I repeat: The Dark Lord does not complain that I stayed, so I do not see why you do."

But he continued, not giving her a chance to interrupt, "I think you next wanted to know, why I stood between the Dark Lord and the Sorcerer's Stone. That is easily answered. He did not know whether he could trust me. He thought, like you, that I had turned from faithful Death Eater to Dumbledore's stooge. He was in a pitiable condition, very weak, sharing the body of a mediocre wizard. He did not dare reveal himself to a former ally if that ally might turn him over to Dumbledore or the Ministry. I deeply regret that he did not trust me. He would have returned to power three years sooner. As it was, I saw only greedy and unworthy Quirrell attempting to steal the stone and, I admit, I did all I could to thwart him."

"But you didn't return when he came back, you didn't fly back to him at once when you felt the Dark Mark burn-" Bellatrix started and he winced as he felt teeth on his fingers and looked down. Elizabeth had curled up in a ball around his hand and had bitten his fingers very softly. He rolled his eyes.

"Correct." he stated, not moving his hand. "I returned two hours later. I returned on Dumbledore's orders."

"On Dumbledore's-?" Bellatrix sounded outraged.

He was impatient now, "Think! Think! By waiting two hours, just two hours, I ensured that I could remain at Hogwarts as a spy! By allowing Dumbledore to think that I was only returning to the Dark Lord's side because I was ordered to, I have been able to pass information on Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix ever since! Consider, Bellatrix: The Dark Mark had been growing stronger for months. I knew he must be about to return, all the Death Eaters knew! I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to do, to plan my next move, to escape like Karkaroff, didn't I?"

And he had. He had certainly considered taking Elizabeth and leaving. Australia, Japan, America. He wondered if Elizabeth would've gone with him. He wondered if the Dark Lord would've followed him across countries to kill him and his wife.

"The Dark Lord's initial displeasure at my lateness vanished entirely, I assure you, when I explained that I remained faithful, although Dumbledore thought I was his man. Yes, the Dark Lord thought that I had left him forever, but he was wrong."

"But what use have you been? What useful information have we had from you?" Bellatrix sneered at him.

"My information has been conveyed directly to the Dark Lord. If he chooses not to share it with you-" He started.

"He shares everything with me!" Bellatrix said, firing up at once, "He calls me his most loyal, his most faithful-"

"Does he? Does he still, after the fiasco at the Ministry?" He jeered now.

Her claws dug into his leg again.

"That was not my fault! The Dark Lord has, in the past, entrusted me with his most precious- if Lucius hadn't-"

"Don't you dare- don't you dare blame my husband!" Narcissa said in a low deadly voice.

"There is no point apportioning blame, what is done, is done." He said in a smooth voice.

"But not by you!" Bellatrix said furiously. Elizabeth's heard perked up, her ears twitching. "No, you were once again absent while the rest of us ran dangers, were you not, Snape?"

"My orders were to remain behind. Perhaps you disagree with the Dark Lord, perhaps you think that Dumbledore would not have noticed if I had joined forces with the Death Eaters to fight the Order of the Phoenix? And-"

Elizabeth was sitting up on her haunches. He went on, trying not to sound nervous, "-forgive me- you speak of dangers. . . you were facing ten teenagers, one of them a formerly captured captive and no idea how to cast magic, were you not?"

"They were joined, as you very well know, by half the Order before long! And, while we are on the subject of the Order, you still claim you cannot reveal the whereabouts of their headquarters, don't you?" Bellatrix hissed.

Elizabeth sprang and Bellatrix tripped back, raising her wand, but Elizabeth hadn't been aiming for her, but rather a butterfly that had found its way into the room. She carried it triumphantly in her mouth to the corner of the room. He rolled his eyes, but was glad she was still acting like a cat. His heart was pounding greatly in his chest.

He did his best to recover by smirking at Bellatrix's obvious discomfort at Elizabeth's antics.

"I am not the Secret-Keeper; I cannot speak the name of the place. You understand how the enchantment works, I think? The Dark Lord is satisfied with the information I have passed him on the Order. It led, as perhaps you have guessed, to the recent capture and murder of Emmeline Vance, and it certainly helped dispose of Sirius Black, though I give you full credit to finishing him off."

Elizabeth's large green eyes glared at him from the corner. He knew he was going to pay for saying that later but he also knew that he had to keep up appearances and he reluctantly raised his wing glass as though toasting Bellatrix. Elizabeth turned her back on him, her fur raised. He almost sighed aloud.

"You are avoiding my last two questions, Snape. Harry Potter. Elizabeth Kane. You could have killed him at any point in the past five years. You have not done it. You have not handed her over. Why?"

"Have you discussed this matter with the Dark Lord?" He asked, amused.

"He. . . lately we. . . I am asking you, Snape!" Bellatrix said, her cheeks red. He wondered briefly if she was still sleeping with the Dark Lord.

"If I had murdered Harry Potter, the Dark Lord could not have used his blood to regenerate, making him invincible-"

"You claim you foresaw his use of the boy?" She jeered.

"I do not claim it; I had no idea of his plans; I have already confessed that I thought the Dark Lord dead. I am merely trying to explain why the Dark Lord is not sorry that Potter survived, at least until a year ago. . ."

"But why did you keep him alive?"

"Have you not understood me? It was only Dumbledore's protection that was keeping me out of Azkaban! Do you disagree that murdering his favorite student might have turned him against me? But there was more to it than that. I should remind you that when Potter first arrived at Hogwarts there were still many stories circulating about him, rumors that he himself was a great Dark wizard, which was how he had survived the Dark Lord's attack. Indeed, many of the Dark Lord's old followers through Potter might be a standard around which we could all rally once more. I was curious, I admit it, and not at all inclined to murder him the moment he set foot in the castle."

Elizabeth's back was still to him though her fur wasn't bristled anymore. He wondered if she'd actually eaten the butterfly. He doubted it.

"Of course, it became apparent to me very quickly that he had no extraordinary talent at all. He has fought his way out of a number of tight corners by a simple combination of sheer luck and more talented friends. He is mediocre to the last degree, though as obnoxious and self-satisfied as was his father before him. I have done my utmost to have him thrown out of Hogwarts, where I believed he scarcely belongs, but kill him, or allow him to be killed in front of me? I would have been a fool to risk it with Dumbledore close at hand."

Elizabeth was trotting back to where he was sitting and then flopped in a patch of sunlight streaming through the window.

"And through all this we are supposed to believe Dumbledore has never suspected you? He has no idea of your true allegiance, he trusts you implicitly still?" Bellatrix asked.

"I have played my part well. And you overlook Dumbledore's great weakness: He has to believe the best of people. I spun him a tale of deepest remorse when I joined his staff, fresh from my Death Eater days, and he embraced me with open arms- though, as I say, never allowing me nearer the Dark Arts than he could help. Dumbledore has been a great wizard-"

Bellatrix made a scathing noise.

"-oh yes, he has, the Dark Lord acknowledges it. I am pleased to say, however, that Dumbledore is growing old. The duel with the Dark Lord last month shook him. He has since sustained a serious injury because of his reactions are slower than they once were. But through all these years, he has never stopped trusting Severus Snape, and therein lies my great value to the Dark Lord."

Bellatrix opened her mouth and he continued, feeling snappish, "And for Elizabeth Kane? It is highly impossible for me to simply bring her to the Dark Lord. As I have understood it, there have been two attempts at taking her in. The first, she escaped herself because Nott wanted a little. . .fun. The second, the order rescued her. Stupid really, her father fights so hard for her. They never had a chance. And it is for the same reasons as not killing Harry Potter that I have not taken Elizabeth Kane. Both children have a special place in Dumbledore's heart. There is no way for me to possibly take her or kill him without losing my position as a spy."

Nott was eventually going to pay for his stunt, but he wasn't entirely sure how. But the idea of anyone- especially a Death Eater's- kissing Elizabeth, feeling Elizabeth, filled him with rage. But he tried to hide that for the moment.

"Now. . . you came to ask me for help, Narcissa?" He asked, turning to her. The sooner this was over with the sooner he could get back in bed, the sooner he could apologize to Elizabeth, the sooner he could feel her mouth on his, his hands on her supple apples. . .

"Yes, Severus I- I think you are the only one who can help me, I have nowhere else to turn. Lucius is in jail and. . ." Narcissa closed her eyes and two tears trailed out of them and he felt pity in his heart. Damnit, Elizabeth had softened his heart. "The Dark Lord has forbidden me to speak of it. He wishes none to know of the plan. It is. . . very secret. But-"

"If he has forbidden it, you ought not to speak. The Dark Lord's word is law." He said very quickly.

Narcissa gasped and Bellatrix looked extremely satisfied and said, "There! Even Snape says so: You were told not to talk, so hold your silence!"

He got up and closed the curtain. Elizabeth poked her head up in annoyance and hissed at him.

"Oh calm down Eilís" He said and immediately regretted it. It had been the first name that had popped into his mind. A spasm of pain went through her eyes as there were no way to show facial expressions on her feline face and she leapt onto her four paws and walked out of the room.

"It so happens that I know of the plan." He said and he realized he sounded a bit dull. "I am one of the few the Dark Lord has told. Nevertheless, had I not been in on the secret, Narcissa, you would have been guilty of great treachery to the Dark Lord."

Would she wait for him in the room? Or would she have climbed out the window and left? Oh why had he used that stupid name?

"I thought you must know about it! He trusts you so, Severus. . ." Narcissa said, breathing freely.

"You know about the plan? You know?" Bellatrix said, looking enraged.

"Certainly, but what help do you require, Narcissa? If you are imaging I can persuade the Dark Lord to change his mind, I am afraid there is no hope, none at all."

"Severus, my son. . . my only son. . ." Narcissa whispered, more tears sliding down her pale cheeks. He remembered briefly how Elizabeth had been so fearful about not having children. It must be a woman thing.

"Draco should be proud. The Dark Lord is granting him a great honor. And I will say this for Draco: He isn't shrinking away from his duty, he seems glad of a chance to prove himself, excited at the prospect-"

Narcissa began to cry. "That's because he is sixteen and has no idea what lies in store! Why, Severus? Why my son? It is too dangerous! This is vengeance for Lucius's mistake, I know it!"

He looked away, her tears tortured him.

"That's why he's chosen Draco, isn't it? To punish Lucius?" She whispered.

Yes. But he didn't say so.

"If Draco succeeds, he will be honored above all the others." He said slowly.

"But he won't succeed! How can he, when the Dark Lord himself-?" Narcissa sobbed and Bellatrix gasped and Narcissa was suddenly very panicky. "I only meant. . . that nobody has yet succeeded. . . Severus. . . please. . . you are, you have always been, Draco's favorite teacher. . . You are Lucius's old friend. . . I beg you. . . you are the Dark Lord's favorite, his most trusted advisor. . . Will you speak to him, persuade him-"

"The Dark Lord will not be persuaded, and I am not stupid enough to attempt it." He said flatly. "I cannot pretend that the Dark Lord is not angry with Lucius. Lucius was supposed to be in charge. He got himself captured, along with how many others, and failed to retrieve the prophecy into the bargain. Yes, the Dark Lord is angry, Narcissa, very angry indeed."

"Then I am right, he has chosen Draco in revenge! He does not mean him to succeed, he wants him to be killed trying!" Narcissa choked out.

"It was that girls fault!" Bellatrix was saying now hotly. "She told Potter to smash the prophecy and then tricked us saying she always keeps her promises!"

"You mean Elizabeth Kane?" He asked, trying not to sound proud. "That's because she does keep all the promises she makes. You should've known her fingers were crossed. Of course she told Potter to smash the prophecy- she had probably already foreseen the words in her head before they even got there! She knew that it could not land in the Dark Lord's hands!"

But the conversation was interrupted by Narcissa who staggered off the couch and clutched the front of his robes, her tears falling onto his shirt. "You could do it. You could do it instead of Draco, Severus. You would succeed, of course you would, and he would reward you beyond all of us-"

He grabbed her wrists, feeling that this was going to get to personal. He said slowly, "He intends me to do it in the end, I think. But he is determined that Draco should try first. You see, in the unlikely event that Draco succeeds, I shall be able to remain at Hogwarts a little longer, fulfilling my useful role as spy."

"In other words, it doesn't matter to him if Draco is killed!" Narcissa said.

"The Dark Lord is very angry." He repeated. "He failed to hear the prophecy, he failed to attain Elizabeth Kane. You know as well as I do, Narcissa, that he does not forgive easily."

Narcissa crumpled, falling at his feet, sobbing. "My only son. . . my only son. . ."

"You should be proud!" Bellatrix said unsympathetically. "If I had sons, I would be glad to give them up to the service of the Dark Lord!"

So maybe it wasn't a womans thing. Just the sweet women wanted children.

Severus started a bit at her words. 'If I had sons.' Bellatrix knew perfectly well that women could be Death Eaters too. So why. . . no. . . had her and Voldemort. . . surely not?

Narcissa gave a scream of despair and clutched her long beautiful blond hair. He quickly stooped, seizing her by the arms, lifted her up and made her sit back down on the sofa. He poured her more wine, shoving it into her hand. "Narcissa, that's enough. Drink this. Listen to me."

"It might be possible. . . for me to help Draco." He said slowly, hoping he didn't regret making such a statement.

She sat up, "Severus- oh, Severus- you would help him? Would you look after him, see he comes to no harm?"

"I can try." He said.

She flung her glass away and it skidded across the table and she took up a kneeling position at his feet, seizing his hand and pressed her lips to it. He felt heat in his cheeks. Maybe it would be best if Elizabeth was gone. Was this going to go any farther?

"If you are there to protect him. . . Severus, will you swear it? Will you make then Unbreakable vow?"

His heart stopped. Unbreakable vow? If he screwed up. . . he could die. Draco had a tendency to attack Elizabeth at school. If he made the vow. . . how could he protect Elizabeth from Draco if he was supposed to be protecting Draco? He kept his face emotionless and said, "The Unbreakable Vow?"

Bellatrix cackled with laughter. "Aren't you listening, Narcissa? Oh, he'll try, I'm sure. . . The usual empty words, the usual slithering out of action. . . oh, on the Dark Lord's orders, of course!"

He kept his eyes on Narcissa's blue, tear-filled eyes. She was still clutching his hand. "Certainly, Narcissa, I shall make the Unbreakable Vow. Perhaps your sister will consent to be our Bonder."

Pride, he thought reluctantly. Pride was what killed Sirius and pride was what was going to kill him. But it was too late, he'd said the words.

Bellatrix's mouth fell open as he lowered himself so that he was kneeling opposite Narcissa. They grasped right hands. "You will need your wand, Bellatrix." He said in as cold a voice as he could muster. If Elizabeth wasn't there when he got back. . .

Bellatrix pulled out her wand. "And you will need to move a little closer." He said.

Narcissa spoke. "Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes?"

"I will." He said.

A thin tongue of flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands. There was some heat, but it was not painful.

"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"

"I will."

"And, should it prove necessary. . . if it seems Draco will fail, will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"

He twitched for a second, wanting to pull his hand out. Elizabeth would be horribly pained if he died. It took him a second to find the words.

"I will."

As the fiery bond finally fell away, they drew their hands apart and then they were gone as quickly as they had come.

He stood there in the sitting room for some time and then turned and headed into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him and locking it.

She was still there, curled up in a ball on the bed, her large green eyes glaring at him with anger.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, "It was the first name that came to mind and it came out. I didn't mean to."

She turned back into a human, completely naked and his heart started to race, looking at how perfect her body was, the curves in her hips, the small but plump breasts, her large brown eyes, the long brown-red hair that reached past her perfectly shaped ass. Perfect- unless he looked at her right hand which had words carved in it. Her eyes were a bit puffy and red, the rest of her face was extremely pale. Her bottom lip was quivering slightly. She'd been crying.

"It's fine. I understand." she whispered, walking up to him, pressing her body to him. Her hands slipped up to his collar and he shivered with anticipation as she lowered his cloak from his shoulders and then unbuttoned his shirt. "Come back to bed." She whispered, turning her back on him and his heart thumped irregularly, watching her hips swing as she walked.

He waved his wand, turning out the lights and shutting the window shades and quickly climbed back into the bed, and climbed back onto her, going into her, and went back up into Heaven.

⬅️➡️

[braveclementine]

Chapter 18

Warnings: 18+ readers only, mentions of nudity, smut

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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𝖂𝖊 𝖜𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖘𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 in courtyard when the letter came. Hermione had been berating Harry about not concentrating on Slughorn and instead, concentrating on Malfoy. Meanwhile, Ron kept ducking behind Hermione as different girls came around the corner, always afraid that one of them would be Lavender.

"Harry Potter? I was asked to give you this." The girl said. She had straight black hair and pretty eyes. She handed a letter to Harry.

"Thanks. . ." Harry said, taking the small roll of parchment. When the girl had left he said, "Dumbledore said we wouldn't be having any more lessons until I got the memory!"

"It's not from Dumbledore." I said over Hermione's head.

"Look at this." Harry said to Hermione, handing her the letter.

I read over her shoulder:

Dear Harry, Ron, Elizabeth, and Hermione, Aragog died last night. Harry, Ron, and Elizabeth, you met him, and you know how special he was. Hermione, I know you'd have liked him. It would mean a lot to me if you'd dip down for the burial later this evening. I'm planning on doing it round dusk, that was his favorite time of day. I know you're not supposed to be out that late, but you can use the cloak. Wouldn't ask, but I can't face it alone. Hagrid.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Hermione said, passing it on to Ron who said, "He's mental! That thing told its mate to eat Harry, Eliza and me! Told them to help themselves! And now Hagrid expects us to go down there and cry over its horrible hairy body!"

"It's not just that." Hermione said. "He's asking us to leave the castle at night and he knows security's a million times tighter and how much trouble we'd be in if we were caught."

"We've been down to see him by night before." Harry pointed out.

"Yes, but for something like this?" Hermione asked skeptically. "We've risked a lot to help Hagrid out, but after all- Aragog's dead. If it were a question of saving him-"

"-I'd want to go even less. You didn't meet him, Hermione. Believe me, being dead will have improved him a lot." Ron said.

I privately agreed with Ron, though I hated the idea of Hagrid facing something terrible alone. Correction, something terrible for him alone. I could most definitely sneak down to see him.

"Harry!" Hermione said desperately, "You can't be thinking of going. It's such a pointless thing to get detention for!"

"Yeah, I know. I s'pose Hagrid'll have to bury Aragog without us."

"I'll go down." I said and the other three looked at me. I shrugged, "Look, I can turn into a cat. Cats are allowed past security, aren't they?"

"Ah. . ." Hermione said, looking worried.

"Nothing's going to happen Hermione." I said gently.

"Alright then." Ron said, "That sums that up."

Hermione turned to Harry. "Look, Potions will be almost empty this afternoon, with us all off doing our tests. . . Try and soften Slughorn up a bit then!"

"Fifty-seventh time lucky, you think?" Harry asked in a bitter voice.

"Lucky." Ron said. "Harry, that's it- get lucky!"

"What d'you mean?" Harry asked cautiously, knowing exactly what Ron meant.

Ron looked at him excitedly, "Use your lucky potion!"

Hermione looked at Ron in a new light, "Ron that's- that's it! Of course! Why didn't I think of it?"

"It'll work." I said confidently.

Harry looked at the three of us. "Felix Felicis? I dunno.. I was sort of saving it. . ."

"For what?" I asked, amused because I knew exactly who he was thinking about.

He didn't answer, having gone off into la la land and didn't come back until Hermione asked, "Harry? Are you still with us?"

"Wha-? Yeah, of course. Well. . . okay. If I can't get Slughorn to talk this afternoon, I'll take some Felix and have another go this evening."

"That's decided, then." Hermione said, getting to her feet and started to do pirouettes. I was quite jealous. Twycross hadn't gotten the Minister's approval for me to take the test early. "Destination. . . determination. . . deliberation. . ."

"Oh, stop that, I feel sick enough as it is- quick, hide me!" Ron cowered.

"It isn't Lavender." Hermione snapped.

"Cool. Blimey, they don't look happy, do they?"

I scoffed, "They're the Montgomery sisters, of course they aren't going to be looking happy! Didn't you hear about their brother?"

"I'm losing track of what's happening to everyone's relatives, to be honest." Ron said carelessly.

"Well, their brother was attacked by a werewolf. The rumor is that their mother refused to help the Death Eaters. Anyways, the boy was only five and he died in St. Mungo's, they couldn't save him." Hermione answered.

"He died?" Harry sounded shocked, "But surely werewolves don't kill, they just turn you into one of them?"

"It depends." I said sadly. "Sometimes they lose control. It's why dad always traveled so far during full moons. If he didn't turn me, he'd kill me, and I don't think he would've been able to keep living if he'd done either one."

"What was the werewolf's name?" Harry asked.

"Well, the rumor is that it was that Fenrir Greyback." Hermione said sadly.

"I knew it- the maniac who likes attacking kids, the one Lupin told me about!" Harry said angrily.

Hermione and I looked at him sadly. "Harry, you've got to get that memory. It's all about stopping Voldemort, isn't it? These dreadful things that are happening are all down to him. . ."

The bell rang, Ron jumping to his feet to join Hermione.

"You'll do fine." Harry said, getting to his feet as well. "Good luck."

"Hermione, you'll pass. Ron, you're going to leave half an eyebrow behind and they'll fail you if you're not careful. Remember the tips that'll keep you from splinching yourself." I said happily.

Harry and I headed to the potions dungeon and found that it was the two of us, Ernie, and Malfoy.

"All too young to Apparate just yet?" Slughorn asked, looking around, "Not turned seventeen yet?"

We all shook our heads.

"Ah well, as we're so few, we'll do something fun. I want you all to brew me up something amusing!"

"That sounds good, sir." Ernie said, rubbing his hands together, smiling.

"What do you mean, 'something amusing'?" Malfoy asked irritably.

"Oh, surprise me." Slughorn said.

I headed to the side room, pulling out a cauldron that already had ingredients in it. My Felix Felicis potion. I had started it with Severus after everyone had come back from break. I knew that we were going to need quite a bit.

But the potion needed work, only halfway done. Even with the headstart, the potion end time would be cutting close to the battle date.

Across from me, weird smells were emitting from Ernie's cauldron. It seemed he was trying to invent a potion. Draco didn't seem to be putting much work into his potion either, but Harry was working methodically on his. Occasionally, I caught brief smells of peppermint.

"Well, now, this looks absolutely wonderful," Slughorn said after an hour and a half of work, standing over Harry's potion. He clapped his hands together, staring down into Harry's cauldron. "Euphoria, I take it? And what's that I smell? Mmmm. . . you've added a sprig of peppermint, haven't you? Unorthodox, but what a stroke of inspiration, Harry, of course, that would tend to counterbalance the occasional side effects of excessive singing and nose-tweaking. . . I really don't know where you get these brain waves, my boy.. unless it's just your mother's genes coming out in you!"

"Oh. . . yeah, maybe." Harry said.

I had covered my nose discretely as the potion that Ernie had created was spewing horrid fumes.

The bell rang, Ernie and Draco left a once.

"Sir." Harry said but Slughorn was already leaving the dungeon. "Professor- Professor, don't you want to taste my po-?" Harry called desperately but the door closed.

I sighed, "No go Harry. But I'd certainly like to try some if you don't mind. You should try some too."

We both took a few sips and a familiar feeling flooded through me.

"Oh. My. God." Harry said, looking dazed. "That is amazing."

I picked up my cauldron and told Harry I'd see him later, and hurried up to Severus' office. Since class had let out, there were no students in the classroom and I passed through with no qualms.

I set the cauldron down in the corner. I noticed Severus had already labelled ingredients in different bottles and jars for me. I quickly finished adding the other ingredients and stirring. Severus came in a few minutes later.

"How was class?" He asked, taking a seat at his desk and picking up his quill.

"Wonderful. . ." I said, carefully counting the rotations as I stirred. Perfect, it had to be perfect.

There was a silence that contained scratching quills and momentary pauses where it was dipped in the pot of ink, bubbling from the cauldron, and soft breathing. But the potion Harry had made was making something weird happen to me.

I finally set everything aside. It was to sit and stew for about three and a half weeks and seven hours to the dot. I pulled out my potions calendar, marking the specific time. The good thing was my time-turner. If I didn't manage to get there the first time, I could most definitely get there the second time.

I stood up, getting ready to go down to dinner when Severus said unexpectedly, "It really was brilliant art, Elizabeth."

"Sorry?" I questioned.

Severus looked up momentarily, his black eyes boring into mine. "The portraits. They really were brilliant."

"You set yours on fire." I pointed out, my lips twitching to keep from smiling.

"Yes. . ." Severus said, turning back to his parchment. "You're going to ruin my image as a cold hearted person. People might actually think I'm soft."

I laughed, walking up behind him and hugging him from behind. "Your much softer than you let on." I kissed his cheek and then paused. Euphoria. I took the quill from his hand and turned the chair around, sitting on his lip, pressing my lips to his neck. He let out a small noise, perhaps a gasp, perhaps a moan, I wasn't sure.

Perhaps I shouldn't have taken the Euphoria potion because I seemed to have unlimited energy and didn't feel deterred by anything at all.

I slipped his robes from his shoulders, letting them fall. He pushed me off of him so that he could get out of the chair, and we stumbled through the door of the bedroom and onto the bed. I was on top of him, letting him slide into me easily. I moved with him quickly, my breasts bouncing carelessly and I barely noticed the pain. All I could think about was the enjoyment of him inside of me and my hands in his soft, silky hair. His hands reached up to cup my breasts, pulling me down slightly so his lips could kiss them. I buried my face in his neck.

He rolled over as I moaned softly, his hands clutching at my hips, moving gently now. Strange, usually we started slow and made our way up in speed. We seemed to be doing the opposite and it was lovely. He reached up with one hand to cover my breast, squeezing softly, while the other snaked around to the back of my head, bringing my head up to be closer to his.

Our lips reached the others skin at different spots, not necessarily each others lips. The small bursts of delightfulness was punctured with small bites of pain. But it was all lovely and in my current state, everything seemed heightened tenfold.

"What. . . what was that?" Severus asked, almost breathlessly as we laid there, the blankets curling around our legs, our clothes scattered on the floor.

"Harry gave me a potion of euphoria." I muttered, pent out of energy now that the effects of the potion had worn out. My cheek rested on his chest "I have no idea what just happened. . . I mean, I know what happened. . . I just don't know how it happened."

Severus chuckled, kissing my neck. I shivered slightly under his touch. Bloody hell.

"I should um- I should go down to dinner- yeah- dinner." I said, breathing normally again.

"As should I." Severus said. "Though I feel quite exhausted at the moment."

I too felt quite tired and would've liked to have laid there and fallen asleep. But I couldn't. So I giggled, moving away from the bed, and getting dressed again, before leaving the classroom to go down to dinner.

After dinner, I ducked into the bathroom and upon finding it empty, I turned into a cat and strode from the room.

I had to run from some Ravenclaw first-year girls who thought I was just a sweet little kitten, and after hiding on top of a suit of armor, finally made my way back to the entrance hall, and slipped out the door, sprinting across the lawn to get to Hagrid's house.

I transformed back outside the door- I didn't really want to face Fang as a cat.

"Yeh came!" Hagrid said, pulling me into a hug. He wasn't crying- at the moment- but his eyes were red and puffy.

"Harry'll be down soon." I said. "Ron and Hermione couldn't come though."

"Don' matter, don' matter." Hagrid said, sitting back down in a chair. I made a pot of tea and gave him a cup which he drank with trembling fingers. I waited, pacing the cabin, waiting for Harry. Fang followed me, looking for head scratches which I gave occasionally.

There was a knock on the door and Hagrid was up, opening the door. Harry stood there, his invisibility cloak held out in front of him.

"Yeh came." Hagrid repeated.

"Yeah-Ron and Hermione couldn't though, they're really sorry." Harry said smoothly. Perhaps it was my imagination, but there almost seemed a faint gold hue around Harry. But it was so slight that Hagrid had not noticed it. Perhaps it was my sight. I had noticed that my sight and hearing had changed slightly since becoming an Animagus (a side effect that wasn't mentioned anywhere in the books or manuscripts).

"Don'- don' matter. . . He'd've bin touched yeh're here, though, Harry. . ." Hagrid said with a loud sob. Harry patted his elbow gently.

"Where are we burying him? The Forest?" Harry asked.

"Blimey, no. The other spiders won' let me anywhere near their webs now! Aragog's gone. Turns out it was on'y on his orders they didn' eat me! Can yeh believe that, Harry?" Hagrid said while wiping his eyes on the bottom of his shirt.

"I think he mentioned something like that when we went to talk to him." I said casually, sitting down. Fang came over, setting his head on my knees and I grimaced at the slobber. I really had never been a dog person. And I liked the cute dogs, the little Pomeranians and huskies and retrievers and bichon frises and labs and beagles. Bulldogs, pitbulls, pugs, boarhounds, ugh.

I had gotten along with Fang in my second year, having lived in Hagrid's cabin for nearly two months because I figured living in Hagrid's cabin by myself was safer than staying in the castle with lots and lots of people. Fang could grow on you if you could get used to slobber.

"Never bin an are o' the forest I couldn' go before! It wasn' easy, gettin' Aragog's body out o' there, I can tell yeh- they usually eat their dead, see. . . But I wanted ter give 'im a nice burial. . . a proper send-off. . ." Hagrid said, not paying me any attention.

"I can't go near the centaurs anymore." I said randomly. What the hell were the side effects of the Euphoria potion?

"Professor Slughorn met me coming down here, Hagrid." Harry said, resuming the patting of the elbow.

"Not in trouble, are yeh?" Hagrid asked, so alarmed that Harry might be in trouble he stopped crying. "Yeh shouldn' be outta the castle in the evenin', I know it, it's my fault-"

"No, no, when he heard what I was doing he said he'd like to come and pay his last respects to Aragog too. He's gone to change into something more suitable, I think. . . and he said he'd bring some bottles so we can drink to Aragog's memory."

"Tha's- tha's righ' nice of him, that is, an' not turnin' yeh in either. I've never really had a lot ter do with Horace Slughorn before. . . Comin' ter see old Aragog off, though, eh? Well. . . he'd've liked that, Aragog would. . ." Hagrid muttered.

I snorted quietly and drank my tea. Then I sighed, putting my teacup down and pulled a piece of paper out of my back pocket. "Here, I drew this for you."

Hagrid took it in a shaking hand and unfolded it and started to sob. I quickly grabbed it from his hands so the charcoal wouldn't run.

"It's- it's beautiful." Hagrid sobbed and I put the drawing of Aragog up on his dresser so that he could see it. It was a horrible drawing- not because it was bad (if I may be so humble) but rather horrible in a gruesome way. The way I'd seen Aragog through my scared twelve-year old eyes. Strange, I felt so much older than sixteen now.

"Are we going to bury him here, Hagrid, in your garden?" Harry asked after a moment when Hagrid had stopped sobbing.

"Jus' beyond the pumpkin patch, I thought. I've already dug the- yeh know- grave. Jus' though we'd say a few nice things over him- happy memories, yeh know-"

There was a knock at the door and I stood, getting it and letting Professor Slughorn in. "Hagrid, so very sorry to hear of your loss."

"Tha's very nice of yeh. Thanks a lot. An' thanks fer not givin' Harry detention neither. . ." Hagrid said gruffly, all tears done and gone.

"Wouldn't have dreamed of it. Sad night, sad night. . . where is the poor creature?" Slughorn asked, his eyes roaming the cabin and settling on the drawing.

"Out here," Hagrid said, leaving the cabin. "Shall we- shall we do it, then?"

"Wonderful artwork Miss Kane." Professor Slughorn complimented, "You've got quite the eye for artistic beauty."

"Thank you Professor." I said quietly, briefly remembering that my drawing of him had him dressed in a pineapple suit, and I took up the rear of the party.

The moon was glistening on the grounds so that everything was in shadow. The moon rays mixed and intermingled with the light from Hagrid's windows just enough to make out the large boulder like shadow. There, before it, was a massive pit that was ten-feet-deep with a matching sized pile of dirt to go with it.

"Magnificent." Professor Slughorn said, striding to the front of the spider's face. I could only imagine it faking death and reaching out, snapping off a leg to feast on. I suddenly felt quite nauseous. I quickly put a hand on my stomach.

I could hear the tinkle of bottles and rolled my eyes. So the walrus had come for the Acromantula venom, was I surprised?

"It's not ev'ryone appreciates how beau'iful they are. I didn' know yeh were int'rested in creatures like Aragog, Horace."

"Interested? My dear Hagrid, I revere them." Slughorn said, taking a step back from the body. I could understand his point. It would be a horrible idea not to respect them. The same way you should revere Centaurs and Merpeople so they didn't kill you with a bow or a spear. There were a lot of rules to follow in the magical world. "Now. . . shall we proceed to the burial?"

Hagrid nodded and moved forward, pushing against the black spider's body and it fell into the pit with a crunch. I winced. Hagrid started to cry.

"Of course, it's difficult for you, who knew him best." Professor Slughorn said, patting Hagrid's elbow. "Why don't I say a few words?"

I came to stand next to Hagrid who wrapped a massive arm around my shoulders. My knees nearly buckled under the weight of the arm but I managed to keep standing though I felt as though I was carrying two bookbags with twenty textbooks in them.

"Farewell, Aragog, king of arachnids," Professor Slughorn said in an impressive voice, something like a preacher I'd heard at a church before. "whose long and faithful friendship those who knew you won't forget! Though your body will decay, your spirit lingers on in the quiet, web-spun places of your forest home. May your many-eyed descendants ever flourish and your human friends find solace for the loss they have sustained!"

"Tha' was. . . tha' was. . . beau'ful!" Hagrid sobbed and he collapsed onto the heap, crying harder than ever before. Even I had tears springing to my eyes, though I was sure that had to do more with the high emotions running around here than the actual sadness that Aragog was dead. But I hated it when Hagrid was upset.

"There, there." Slughorn said and with a wave of his wand, the earth crashed back into the grave, smoothing over the surface. "Let's get inside and have a drink. Get on his other side, Harry. . . That's it. . . Up you come, Hagrid. . . well done. . ."

Hagrid was deposited in a chair at the table. Fang came padding over and put his head on Harry's lap as usual. I think Fang liked Harry better than me and I was quite okay with that. Professor Slughorn uncorked one of the bottles he had brought.

"I have had it all tested for poison." He said in what he obviously thought a reassuring voice. "Had a house-elf taste every bottle after what happened to your poor friend Rupert."

I had many retorts for that comment, some of them about the cruelty for house-elves, and some of them about what 'Rupert's' real name was.

"One for Harry. . . one for me. . . and one for Elizabeth. . ." Slughorn said, diving the second bottle between the three of us. The first bottle had been fully deposited into Hagrid's tankard. "Well- to Aragog."

"Aragog." Harry, Hagrid, and I said together, also lifting our glasses.

Hagrid and Slughorn drank deeply. Harry didn't drink at all. I took a small sip and did not find the texture or taste to my taste. I'd never liked wine or alcoholic substances. I set the glass down on the table. I supposed I could hand it over if they wanted more drink.

"I had him from an egg, yeh know. Tiny little thing he was when he hatched. 'Bout the size of a Pekingese." Hagrid started down the tale.

"Sweet." Slughorn said.

"Used ter keep him in a cupboard up at the school until. . . well. . ." Hagrid's face darkened and a peculiar thought came over me.

If Slughorn had taught Tom Riddle, and Tom Riddle and Hagrid had gone to the school at the same time, then Slughorn had taught Hagrid as well. I found this much more fascinating than the story that was unfolding. I loved finding connections where none seemed to be. I always felt the need to share it too and on instinct, I looked over at Harry, but kept my mouth shut.

"That's never unicorn hair, Hagrid?" Slughorn asked, eyeing Hagrid's walls with interest. Hagrid collected things he found in forest- unicorn tail hair included. I'd helped him collect some. It got caught on bushes and ferns and was quite easy to pick up.

"Oh yeah," Hagrid said with indifference. "Gets pulled out of their tails, they catch it on branches an' stuff in the forest, yeh know. . ."

"But my dear chap, do you know how much that's worth?" Slughorn asked in awe.

"I use it fer bindin' on bandages an' stuff if a create gets injured. It's dead useful. . . very strong, see." Hagrid said with another shrug.

There was quite a difference between the educated and the uneducated, I noticed. Hagrid had only three years of schooling (at least at Hogwarts) and yet, he didn't see things for their monetary value. He'd even passed on some of his skills to me, using unicorn hair for bandages and other things. Slughorn on the other hand. . . Aragog's venom was rare, very expensive, very valuable. . . unicorn hair could be sold to wand makers. . .

They had ventured into tale about the Centaurs of the forest and I listened with vivid interest as Hagrid told recent stories of Ivagio, Ronan, Bane, and the others. I had missed some of them- Bane excluded- and hearing recent stories was quite nice. I thought about retelling some of the stories to Firenze, but I wasn't sure how he'd take it or if it would make him more upset.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Harry wave his wand slightly and the bottle on the table refilled. I said nothing, grabbing my own cup and turned the wine into pumpkin juice. Then I started to take small sips while listening to Hagrid and Slughorn trade stories about the illegal dragon trades they'd taken part of.

Harry continued to refill the bottle and they started to get drunker. They started to make random toasts to some random, some not random things. To Hogwarts, to Dumbledore, to elf-made wine, and to Harry.

"Harry Potter!" Hagrid bellowed, slopping another bucket of wine down his front. I felt how I had felt coming to Grimmauld 12 before Christmas and finding Sirius had been drinking as he had been alone for a long time. I was quite upset, watching him drink himself into oblivion, but I did nothing to interfere.

"Yes, indeed, Parry Otter, the Chosen Boy Who- well- something of that sort." Slughorn mumbled.

Parry Otter. I laughed aloud and neither seemed to notice. Harry's lips twitched for a millisecond.

Hagrid became tearful soon after, reaching up and pulling the whole band of unicorn hair off of the ceiling and gave it to Slughorn. Slughorn put it in his pocket saying, "To friendship! To generosity! To ten Galleons a hair!"

I watched the end of the unicorn hair slip into his pocket, more upset than was rational. Hagrid and I had spent classes searching for unicorn hair. While easy to take off, unicorns were usually quite careful and rarely caught their tails on bushes unless they were already loose. It was going to take ages to find more unicorn hair for bandages. What if a magical creature got hurt? We would have nothing to bind their wounds with. . . unless something else could be used? Maybe Firenze could teach me something.

They started to sing and I put my head on my arms, wondering when the night was going to end. I suppose I could've left, but I didn't want to. Something was keeping me here.

Some called him Odo the early and some called him Odo the late It's undoubtedly true he was often confused, but his deeds they were noble and great

Some name him born on a Wednesday, for he had his measure of woe. No he was born on a Thursday some say, for he'd always a long way to go.

"Aaargh, the good die young," Hagrid muttered after slumping into his chair. "Me dad was no age ter go... nor were yer mum an' dad, Harry..." More tears oozed from his eyes and he grabbed Harry's arm and shook it. I watched the scene with sadness. "Bes' wiz and witchard o' their age I never knew... terrible thing... terrible thing..."

And Odo the hero, they bore him back home To the place that he'd known as a lad, They laid him to rest with his hat inside out And his wand snapped in two, which was sad.

"...terrible." Hagrid grunted one last time before falling asleep.

"Sorry, can't carry a tune to save my life." Professor Slughorn said with a hiccup.

"Hagrid wasn't talking about your singing. He was talking about my mum and dad dying." Harry said in a soft voice, the first time he'd talked ever since coming back into the cabin.

I flinched. Mum and Dad. I felt a sudden wave of grief and longing.

"Oh. Oh dear. Yes, that was- was terrible indeed. Terrible. . . terrible. . ." Slughorn said with a horrible belch. He refilled the mugs, obviously having nothing else to say but said anyways, "I don't- don't suppose you remember it, Harry?"

"No- well, I was only one when they died." Harry said. I was looking at the floor because I was crying. "But I've found out pretty much what happened since. My dad died first. Did you know that?"

"I- I didn't." Slughorn said in a quiet voice.

"Yeah. . . Voldemort murdered him and then stepped over his body toward my mum. He told her to get out of the way. He told me she needn't have died. He only wanted me. She could have run."

I imagined for a moment, if she had stepped aside. Voldemort would have only of killed Dad and Harry. It would've been me and her. Sirius would've helped her raise me and Lupin would have too. I could've later avenged Harry's killer. Or maybe Dumbledore would have destroyed him before I was even eleven.

"Oh dear. She could have. . . she needn't. . . That's awful. . ." Slughorn murmured.

"It is, isn't it? But she didn't move. Dad was already dead, but she didn't want me to go too. She tried to plead with Voldemort. . . but he just laughed. . ."

"That's enough! Really, my dear boy, enough. . . I'm an old man. . . I don't need to hear. . . I don't want to hear. . ."

He didn't want to hear what he had done.

"I forgot, you liked her, didn't you?" Harry asked. I shot him a quick look. Slughorn doted on his mother everyday, surely Harry couldn't have forgotten that! Or perhaps he was faking it.

"Liked her? I don't imagine anyone who met her wouldn't have liked her. . . Very brave. . . Very funny. . . It was the most horrible thing. . ."

"But you won't help her son. She gave me her life, but you won't give me a memory." Harry said.

Hagrid's snoring was all that filled the room at that moment. Even Fang was silent.

"Don't say that. It isn't a question. . . If it were to help you, of course. . . but no purpose can be served. . ."

"It can. Dumbledore needs information. I need information." Harry said loudly and firmly. Harry leaned forward a little. "I am the Chosen One. I have to kill him. I need that memory."

"You are the Chosen one?"

"Of course I am."

"But then. . . my dear boy. . . you're asking a great deal. . . you're asking me, in fact, to aid you in your attempt to destroy-"

"You don't want to get rid of the wizard you killed Lily Evans?"

"Harry, Harry, of course I do, but-"

"You're scared he'll find out you helped me?"

Slughorn said nothing.

"Be brave like my mother, Professor. . ."

Slughorn lifted his fingers to his mouth as though he were trying to smoke an invisible cigar. "I am not proud. . . I am ashamed of what- of what that memory shows. . . I think I may have done great damage that day. . ."

He had.

"You'd cancel out anything you did by giving me the memory. It would be a very brave and noble thing to do." Harry said.

Would it though? Would it cancel out everything?

Hagrid twitched his sleep, his elbow nearly knocking over the tankard. I watched as though hypnotized. There was a long silence. They both waited, a type of staring contest seemed to be going on between the two of them.

Finally Slughorn touched the tip of his wand to his temple and withdrew it, a long silver thread of memory stretched until it broke. It swung from the end of the wand until Slughorn put it into a small bottle and passed it, with a trembling hand, to Harry. He had tears in his eyes, or maybe his face was just obscured by my tears.

"Thank you very much, Professor."

"You're a good boy, and you've got her eyes. . . Just don't think too badly of me once you've seen it. . ." And with that, he put his head down and with a deep sigh, fell asleep.

⬅️➡️

[braveclementine]

Chapter 13

Warnings: 18+ readers only, mentions of nudity, smut

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕺𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖙 of Christmas break, I stayed in my bed except for bathroom breaks. It was quite embarrassing because dad would have to help me down to the bathroom. My leg was not quite ready to walk on it's own. Severus showed up every other day to give me potions and ointments and performs spells and also, bring news.

"Greyback's being favored." Severus said, applying a thick green paste to my leg that burned and I stared up at the ceiling, gritting my teeth and squeezing dad's hand so tightly, he kept wincing.

"Why?" Dad asked through gritted teeth as I dug my nails into his hand.

"The Dark Lord is quite pleased to know that Elizabeth is having a child. He thinks the child will have her powers. Of course, I think it's actually good news. He won't harm Elizabeth until he finds out whether the child has powers or not and he won't harm the child unless he finds out that the child doesn't have powers. Of course, if he finds out the child doesn't have power, he'll take Elizabeth and kill the child. Or keep the child as bait."

"That doesn't sound like good news to me!" Dad said indignantly as Severus wrapped a bandage around my leg.

"It means they're both safe. From death at least." Severus said, tying off the bandage on my leg and then removing the ones from my stomach. I breathed deeply through my nose. "And probably for many years too since Elizabeth's powers didn't develop until she was eleven. And of course, he might be vanquished before then."

Dad was silent for some time. I on the other hand, thought it was good news. "I don't think the child will have powers." I whispered. "I don't think its genetic."

"Doesn't matter." Severus said quickly. "He's not going to get his hands on you anyways."

Severus squeezed my hand before applying some ointment to my cuts. Apparently, there was some sort of magical dust on Greyback's claws. Wasn't lethal, but it left scars that couldn't usually be cleared up. Severus however, had inside knowledge and knew how to reverse them. It was just going to take time. I whimpered, partly from pain and partly from fear.

"He's not going to touch you Elizabeth." Sev murmured, leaving purple paste on my wounds now. He started to wrap them up tighter. "I promise."

I nodded, squeezing his hand and then closed my eyes, letting my body rest until it came time to drink the potion that Severus had made. It was disgusting, but necessary, and I took it. I'd asked before if it was safe to take. There were many potions people shouldn't take if they were pregnant. It was perfectly safe according to Sev.

Dad gave us a little privacy, leaving the room, and going down the stairs. Severus immediately sat next to me, putting a hand on my stomach. The baby was restless, always kicking recently. I didn't blame her, I always wanted freedom too.

"She's going to be lovely." I murmured, feeling quite sleepy. "I can picture her already, inside my head."

"Oh?" Severus questioned. "And what does she look like."

"Snow white." I said. "Black hair, alabaster skin, red lips, blue eyes."

"Who's Snow White?" Severus asked, sounding slightly concerned. "I certainly hope that's not what you named her."

I laughed and then reached over, opening the top drawer of the bedside table, pulling out an old Disney storybook.

I flipped through the yellow pages until I came to the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. "This is her." I said, turning the book around to show Snow White, pretty as a picture, her black hair in curls tucked up around her chin. Her lips as red as an apple and her skin as white as snow. There might've been a song about it.

"If this is what our child looks like, then she certainly will be beautiful when she grows up." Severus said. "But I imagine she'll have brown hair, brown eyes like her mother."

"Perhaps somewhere in between, but I'm quite certain she'll look like this." I said stubbornly.

Severus smiled and leaned down and kissed me. I put a hand up to his cheek, pulling him to me. Perhaps things would have gone farther if dad hadn't cleared his throat at the door. Severus pulled away from me slowly, gathering his things with his wand, and he was gone.

I would have liked Severus to have been there for New Years, but my ability to walk was enough celebration for dad and I and we went to bed before midnight even occurred.

Dad and I got a Ministry car to Kings Crossing where he helped me load my things into the train and I went back out onto the platform to say good-bye to him.

"Please be careful." Dad said, holding my face in his hands. "I want you to stay out of trouble, no matter what. Nothings' worth your health at this point, nothing. Not with a child in you. You're not caring for your life anymore Elizabeth, but someone else's life too."

"I know Dad." I said, hugging him tightly. I hated parting with him. He hugged me back fiercely.

"I love you sweetheart." He said, smoothing strands of hair back from my face because I was crying. He kissed my forehead. "Everything's going to be fine."

"I know." I said, smiling weakly and chuckling. "It's just the hormones. I love you dad."

I kissed his cheek and climbed back onto the train, going back into my compartment where I started on reading A Game of Thrones.

Hermione soon joined me, her own things pushed up in the compartment. "That's a horrible book." She commented as she sat down across from me. I glared at her.

"You can't have possibly read this book yet." I said, barely looking up from the pages. "It only just came out."

"I got it a few days after the publishing date and read it in three days." Hermione recited off the top of her head. "It's barbaric and horrible."

"I'll make my own conclusions by the end of the book." I said, determined to like it.

Hermione shrugged, "So how was your break?" her eyes were resting on my cheek and I touched it gingerly. The scars had faded. Severus would continue the healing process when I returned to school.

"Oh, you know." I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Dad and I spent Christmas at the Burrow with Harry. Tonks was there Christmas day. Bellatrix Lestrange and Greyback showed up some time afterwards."

Hermione dropped her mouth and said in an incredibly bossy voice, "Don't tell me you actually went after them!"

"I was trying to help Harry." I said, bookmarking my place and setting the book aside. "Besides, I hadn't foreseen anything. I mean, what if I hadn't gone after him? I don't know what would have happened either way. Besides, I thought it was just Bellatrix. I don't know when Greyback showed up."

"Greyback was the one who clawed your face?" Hermione asked.

I nodded, "Because I'm dad's daughter of course. Greyback was the one that bit dad, though you probably knew that."

Hermione nodded, "I assumed, though I wasn't 100% sure."

I sighed. "Dad was so upset."

"You weren't bit were you?" Hermione asked in a sharp voice.

"No, it wasn't full moon so Greyback thought biting me would be a waste." I said scathingly. "Apparently, he's waiting for a full moon."

Hermione shuddered, "You really need to start being more careful."

"Believe me Hermione, I'm not going to go looking for trouble. . . well not anymore at least."

Hermione glared at me before pulling out the Daily Prophet and we spent most of the rest of the train ride reading in silence.

We disembarked the train, carrying out things to the carriages and we started towards the castle.

Hermione and I split up once we were in the castle. She went to put her things away in the Gryffindor Tower and I went to Severus' office to move back in.

"How's your leg?" Severus asked in greeting as I set my things down in the corner.

"Much better." I said brightly, pulling out my art pad and setting it down on the bed. I pulled out all of the drawings that I had drawn over the break and laid them out and then asked, "Have you seen anywhere like this or even know what these symbols mean?"

Severus took a long time, examining each of the drawings carefully and spent a lot more time looking at the six images on the piece of paper.

"No." Severus finally said. "Why?"

I sighed, shaking my head and putting the pieces of paper together. "I wish I knew why." was my answer and I put the pad back in my bag.

I kissed his cheek and said, "I'm going to go and hang out with Hermione. I'll be back soon."

"Right." Severus said, slightly disconcerted, watching me leave.

I headed down to Hagrid's where Hermione, Trang, and Hagrid were playing with Buckbeak. They were deep in conversation about something and as I got closer, I realized that they were talking about the attack on the Burrow.

"Elizabeth!" Hagrid exclaimed, "There yeh are!"

"Have a good break Christmas Hagrid?" I asked carelessly, petting Buckbeak on the nose.

"The best!" Hagrid said, a might bit to cheerful.

"I overheard you guys." I said, my lips threatening to twitch into a smile. "I know what you were talking about."

"How could you be so stupid!" Trang exploded angrily. "Don't you know what-"

"Yes, Trang!" I said quickly, in case she, like dad, mentioned the baby. The last person that I wanted to know about my child was Hagrid. I loved Hagrid, but he couldn't keep a secret.

"Dangerous stunt, that was Elizabeth." Hagrid said in a worried tone. "Don' know what yer father would've done if he'd lost yeh."

Guilt filled me immensely. Like I hadn't felt bad enough already. "It's not going to happen again." I said fiercely.

"Unless you don't foresee it." Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.

I scowled. So they were all going to team up on me now, were they? "Look, I made a mistake and it's not going to happen again, alright? And I'd really appreciate if the entire school didn't know about this, okay?"

Without another word about the incident, we turned our attention to Buckbeak/Witherwings. I still called him Buckbeak because I hated change. Changing somethings name to another was quite uncomfortable.

Hermione, Trang, and I went up to Gryffindor tower as the hours started to get late and in front of the portrait was Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

"Harry! Ginny!" Hermione called, hurrying towards them. Trang and I followed. "I got back a couple of hours ago, I've just been down to visit Hagrid and Buck- I mean Witherwings. Did you have a good Christmas?"

"Yeah, pretty eventful. Rufus Scrim-" Ron started.

"I've got something for you, Harry." Hermione interrupted, not taking any notice of Ron. "Oh, hang on- password. Abstinence."

"Precisely." The Fat Lady said in an extremely feeble voice. I looked up at her portrait before she opened up to the common room, and saw that she looked quite pale and slightly sick. Could portraits take ill?

"What's up with her?" Harry asked, stepping through the room.

"Overindulged over Christmas, apparently." Hermione said, with a roll of her eyes as she stepped inside the Common room. Trang and I did not follow and instead, turned away and started walking towards the library.

Trang immediately turned on me once we were in a lonesome hallway. "You have a child and you went after a Death Eater?" She hissed.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Trang, c'mon." I pleaded. "I didn't know there were going to be two-"

"The number of Death Eaters is irrelevant." Trang hissed. "if there was one Death Eater and ten of you, it's still irrelevant. You could be the one out of ten that gets hurt."

"Trang!" I said sharply. "I already talked with Dad and Severus. I am never, ever going to engage in a fight until I have this child."

"Not good enough." Trang said sharply. "You have to stay alive for the child, you know? Don't get in any more fights, period."

"You're not my mother." I said, sharper than I intended.

"No, but I'm your best friend." Trang said fiercely.

"You are very emotional about this subject." I said slowly.

Trang sighed, calming down, rubbing the temples of her forehead. "Yeah, I know."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

She turned, looking out the window. Snow littered the grow, but it wasn't sticking well. "I had to do volunteer hours in America. I worked with children who had lost their parents. They don't grow up right, Liz. I mean, some of them do, but not all of them. That's why they're in the center. Drugs, assault, robbery, I mean, would you want your child to end up there?"

"She's not going to." I said fiercely. "But. . ." I spoke softer, taking in a deep breath, "I understand what you're saying."

Trang put an arm around my shoulder, "Alright then, so we're in agreement?"

"We're in agreement." I said with a smile.

Well, at least I didn't make an unbreakable vow.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

APPARITION LESSONS If you are seventeen years of age, or will turn seventeen on or before the 31st of August next, you are eligible for a twelve-week course of Apparition Lessons from a Ministry of Magic Apparition instructor. Please sign below if you would like to participate. Cost: 12 Galleons.

"What do you think?" Ernie asked.

"Well I'll be signing up." Susan said, putting her money in the box after writing her name down at the bottom.

"I'll have to think about it." I said. I wanted to check and see if apparition was okay to do if you were pregnant.

In Charms, it was quite evident that Hermione hadn't gotten over her ignoring Ron stage. I couldn't blame her, but it was starting to get quite tiring.

Today, we were jumping into producing fountains of pure water. It was much simpler than many of the other charms we had been doing before break. I'd performed the charm last year, though I'd spoken it, rather than nonverbally. But I was one of the first to produce the pure water.

Seamus managed to produce a sprout of water which knocked Professor Flitwick off of his feet. He looked quite ashamed of himself, but he was immersed in whatever conversation he was having with Ron and Harry.

Hermione was stiffly producing jets of water, ignoring Ron completely. I was sitting on the other side of the room, watching silently. I still couldn't believe that the two of them got married. How ridiculous. Harry and Hermione were a better couple. I wondered what their reaction would be if I told them. But then again, that would leave Ginny out, and I couldn't do that to her either. Besides, Harry already had developing feelings for Ginny and I had no reason to crush his emotions.

I wondered who else was eligible to set up with Hermione, but I didn't get much time to think about it because Professor Flitwick wanted me to show him my charmwork.

I hurried back to the office after class was over with a new stack of homework from all the classes that I'd attended today. Severus seemed buried in paper work too and it seemed like it was more midterm than the start of term.

He sighed, tossing his quill down and pulled me onto his lap, our lips meeting quickly. I kissed back passionately, letting my lips part and Severus gave a small moan of ecstasy. He stood up, moving me carefully so that my feet reached the floor and then we moved towards the bed.

Being careful of my right leg, we became more tangled than we had been in the rose bush garden hideout. I'd always imagined that when a woman became pregnant, the couple stopped having sex because there was no point. However, from a view point, the sex almost seemed better in a way. Perhaps it was to encourage having more kids.

Every touch, every motion, every nerve was blissful, shiver inducing, and lovely. His lips kissed the curve between my waist and hip. His fingers trailing down my side. His hair, ticking my cheek while our lips interlocked in a dance.

As the sun started to sink, we lay there, our arms around each other, my cheek resting on his chest and his cheek resting atop my head. The white sheets were strewn around us, covering parts of us, leaving other parts of us exposed.

"I had a question." I murmured, looking at the other side of the room, absentmindedly tracing shapes with my finger across his abs, but not paying attention.

"Yes?" Severus asked politely, his fingers sliding up and down my thigh.

"Is it safe for me to take the apparition classes?"

His fingers stopped moving and I moved my head upwards to look at his face.

"Well..." He said slowly, looking up at the ceiling, his head tilted in a way that the light was thrown over it so I couldn't read his expression clearly. "If you already knew how, but you don't. Therefore, if you splinched yourself. . ."

"Right." I said. "So no apparition classes."

"Right." Severus said, kissing the top of my head. "Sorry."

"It's alright." I said, sighing in disappointment. I snuggled into his shoulder, the impending doom of bad grades from not doing homework didn't seem very important at the moment. Severus pulled the comforter up around my shoulders and I fell asleep quickly.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

"𝕯𝖚𝖒𝖇𝖑𝖊𝖉𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖘𝖆𝖎𝖉 𝖞𝖔𝖚'𝖗𝖊 like Tom Riddle." Harry said as he joined me in the library.

"Excuse me?" I asked, revolted.

"It was a compliment." Harry said.

"Comparing me to Voldemort is not a compliment." I said, disgruntled.

"He said that Tom Riddle was an unusually talented and very good-looking, naturally drawing attention and nearly all were most favorably impressed by him." Harry said, grinning at me. "That does sound like you."

I glared at him. "So I suppose the memories you watched last night were quite interesting?"

"You saw them?" Harry asked. "It would be nice not having to explain them again."

"Quite right." I said. "Of course I saw them." I rolled my eyes.

"Anyways." Harry said impatiently, obviously there was a question on his mind. "Hermione said she'd never heard of horcruxes-"

"The library won't hold any information on horcruxes. Dumbledore took all of the books out of the library in hopes to explain more about Voldemort." I said immediately.

"Do you know what a horcrux is?" Harry asked excitedly.

I nodded. "When you kill someone, you lose a bit of your soul for committing such a crime. I'm not sure about all of the magic, but you can put a bit of yourself into an object. Like Riddle's Diary, like the ring Dumbledore wore on his finger that cursed his hand."

"Dumbledore didn't mention any of that." Harry said, frowning.

"Yeah well if I wasn't here you wouldn't know about horcruxes until you wrangled the memory out of Slughorn."

"Can't you just tell me the memory?" Harry asked and I looked into his green eyes and quickly looked away.

"No." I said flatly. "But I can tell you when the time is right."

"Rons right. That is frustrating." Harry muttered.

"When Aragog dies." I sighed. "Hagrid will invite you guys down. You will drink a small amount of Felix Felicis in order to give you some luck. After you drink it, you'll know what to do. The luck drink will tell you."

Harry continued to glare at me half-heartedly and I grinned. "Tough love Harry, tough love."

"So I should just wait?" Harry asked.

"No." I said. "You should ask him the first chance you get and pretend I never gave you this advice, alright? You'll ask quite a few times. It'll just depend, alright?"

"Sure." Harry said and then asked, "What did Snape want with you on Christmas?"

"Oh!" I blushed, looking down at the table. "Well, you know. Just to spend time together."

Harry shook his head. "I still can't believe your with him. He's-"

"Don't." I said softly. "Please, Harry? I understand you hate him and you can say that all you want to anyone else, just not me, alright?"

Harry and I stared at each other. "Alright." Harry said, sounding a bit frustrated.

"I do love him." I whispered. "That's hard to believe, I know, but I love him." I stared out the window, determinedly not looking at Harry.

"I'm sorry." Harry muttered.

"Let's just not talk about him and me, alright?" I asked, glancing down at the table again.

"Hermione and Ron are still fighting." Harry said at once.

"Yes." I sighed, "You'd think Hermione would have put her differences aside but then again, Ron shouldn't have dated Lavender in the first place. It's a bit of a conundrum, isn't it?"

Harry sighed, "I think he can date whoever he wants, can't he?"

"Sure." I said genially. "But Hermione believed that they were going to Slughorn's party together and then all of sudden Ron and Lavender are together like a bunch of squids. It's a bit disgusting if you look at it from an outside point of view. Hermione was my friend first so I'm going to defend her to the end."

"Are they going to be friends again?" Harry asked, sounding quite exasperated.

"Yes, but it's going to take some time."

"Do you know if Trangs going to take the apparition courses?" Harry asked after a moment of silence.

"Huh." I said, completely shocked by his question. "Well I suppose she might. She hasn't said anything. She is technically of age to do so despite her year."

"You'll be taking them too?" Harry asked.

"No." I said reluctantly. However, I didn't have time to explain in great detail why I wasn't going to be taking the lessons because the bell rang and we quickly gathered our things to get to potions class.

I sat down next to Ernie and Hermione sat across from us. I wasn't surprised about this considering she was going to be angry with both Ron and Harry.

"Settle down, settle down, please! Quickly, now, lots of work to get through this afternoon! Golpalott's Third Law... who can tell me-? But- ah!"

Both Hermione and mine hands had shot up in the air and Slughorn was looking between the two of us, seeming to try and pick a favorite.

"Miss Granger?" He finally called and I lowered my hand, slightly disappointed.

Hermione recited at top speed, "Golpalott's Third-Law-states-that-the-antidote-for-a-blended-poison-will-be-equal-to-more-than-the-sum-of-the-antidotes-for-each-of-the-separate-components."

I stared at her, stunned. How was anyone supposed to have followed that? I should consider myself lucky that I knew what she was even talking about.

"Precisely! Ten points to Gryffindor! Now, if we accept Golpalott's Third Law as true then we must know that the antidotes in common are refracting with the ingredients' endorphins and..." I looked around. Everyone's eyes were as slack as though we were sitting in History of Magic class. Ron was doodling on his paper and even the Ravenclaws looked quite lost. "...which means, of course, that assuming we have achieved correct identification of the potion's ingredients by Scarpin's Revelaspell, our primary aim is not the relatively simple one of selecting antidotes to those ingredients in and of themselves, but to find that added component that will, by an almost alchemical process, transform these disparate elements into urea which will then help with the prions and form an antidote to the poison and so, I want each of you to come and take one of these phials from my desk. You are to create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don't forget your protective gloves!"

Hermione and I were up and half-way across the room before the rest of the class even started to move.

I grabbed a phial of a sky blue liquid and carried it back to my seat. Hermione was already dumping ingredients into her cauldron, setting up glass phials to put ingredients into, but I went more cautiously.

I observed the crystal phial, finding that my poison was slightly glowing and its ingredients told me that this was Moonseed poison. With that knowledge, I pulled out the stopper and poured the poison into the cauldron and lit a flame underneath.

As Harry passed by, Hermione said brightly, "It's a shame that the Prince won't be able to help you much with this, Harry. You have to understand the principles involved this time. No shortcuts or cheats!"

I looked up briefly from having added lacewing flies to the poison concoction and saw that Ron was copying everything that Harry was doing. I rolled my eyes. Each poison was different. Ron was going to do horribly.

I carefully stirred three times clockwise before letting it simmer for two minutes. Meanwhile, I collected more ingredients and tools that I would need in the upcoming steps.

Hermione was dropping a thousand different things into her cauldron, ripping out a chunk of her own hair so that her hair was bushier than ever. She really wanted to beat Harry at this which was a really stupid thing to be attempting.

Carefully using a knife, I sliced some loose ends of my hair before dropping them into the cauldron and adding a pinch of lemon. I grabbed my mortar and pestle, crushing beetle eyes in a fine powder before adding them with a teaspoon of cinnamon.

I had long stopped paying attention to the rest of the group, waving my wand over the cauldron and adding beeswax before I started separating the ingredients and putting them into crystal phials. Hermione was jamming her ingredients into phials as fast as possible.

"Two minutes left, everyone!" Professor Slughorn announced.

I worked with ease, adding the final ingredients the last crystal phial- a drop of my own blood which I had gotten by pricking myself with a sewing needle- and I was done.

"Time's. . . UP!" Slughorn announced and everyone dropped back from their cauldrons except for Hermione who was trying to cram more ingredients into the phials. Hare and the Tortoise. Slower wins the race Hermione, I thought randomly, putting my crystal phial into a holder to present it. Then, I put my finger in my mouth to stop the bleeding.

"Well, let's see how you've done! Blaise. . . what have you got for me?" Slughorn asked, starting at the Slytherin table. I avoided looking at the table. I hadn't been able to be in the same room with Blaise for a long time. It was an uncomfortable situation.

Slughorn moved from the Slytherin's to the Ravenclaws and then, much to my disappointment, the Gryffindors.

Putrid fumes were emitting from Ron's cauldron and he had abandoned it, his task instead to avoid being poisoned by the fumes.

"And you, Harry?" Slughorn asked as he moved away from Ron's cauldron, retching. "What have you got to show me?"

Harry opened is hand which I knew contained a bezoar. I sighed in disappointment. While I did not fault Harry, I would've liked Slughorn to see that I had finished the antidote before he doted on Harry.

After about ten seconds of silence, Slughorn threw his head back, roaring with laughter. Hermione was seething and Ernie looked disappointed.

"You've got nerve, boy! Oh, you're like your mother. . . Well, I can't fault you. . . a bezoar would certainly act as an antidote to all these potions!" Slughorn announced joyfully.

Hermione didn't seem to be able to contain herself, "And you thought of a bezoar all by yourself, did you, Harry?"

"That's the individual spirit a real potion-maker needs! Just like his mother, she had the same intuitive grasp of potion-making, it's undoubtedly from Lily he gets it. . . Yes, Harry, yes, if you've got a bezoar to hand, of course that would do the trick. . . although as they don't work on everything, and are pretty rare, it's still worth knowing how to mix antidotes. . ."

I was starting, against my will, to get angry. He didn't inherit potion making skills from our mother! He was cheating! I felt quite infuriated and the only person who looked angrier than Hermione was Draco.

For about the first time, I wished everyone knew I was Harry's sister. Couldn't I be complimented about my potion skills because I'd inherited my mother's gift?

I took in a deep breath. No, no, that wasn't what I wanted at all, if I thought about it hard. I wanted to be known as a great potion-maker because I had the skills myself, not because I'd inherited them. Potion-making wasn't really a gene that was passed down from parent to child anyways.

The bell rang. "Time to pack up! And an extra ten points to Gryffindor for sheer cheek!" Slughorn announced, walking past our table.

"Professor!" I called, "You didn't check our work."

Yes, I was being selfish, but I couldn't really help it.

"Yes, of course, Miss Kane." Slughorn said, though he sounded more like he was humoring me, rather than actually wanting to check our work. He passed over Ernie's quickly, complimented Hermione slightly, and congratulated me on finishing the antidote and awarding Hufflepuff five points. I stalked out of the potions room in a bad mood.

"That wasn't fair at all!" Hermione seethed as we hurried to the library together. "You actually finished the antidote and I had fifty ingredients and Harry did absolutely nothing!"

"No." I agreed, "It wasn't fair at all but when it comes to Harry, people in our world seem to be a bit more willing to overlook his mistakes. Cheeky!"

"He would have failed if that had been Professor Snape's class." Hermione said, sounding as though she was barely listening to me.

"No." I answered. What were we talking about again? My blood was starting to simmer down a little.

"Miss Kane!" A sharp voice echoed down the hallway and Hermione and I stopped walking. I turned around and saw Professor McGonagall sweeping down the staircase towards us. "I must speak to you for a moment."

"I'll see you in the library." I muttered to Hermione and stepped against the side wall so that I didn't interrupt the flow of the crowd. "Yes, Professor?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Professor Dumbledore would have told you this himself but he is not here at the moment. He said that you are allowed to sign up for apparition classes and that he has absolute faith in you." She recited. Her facial expressions gave away nothing.

"Thank you, Professor." I said and I turned and headed to catch up with Hermione.

Once Harry caught up to us (I suspected he told Ron the outcome of talking to Slughorn first), my temper had fizzled out, though Hermione's had not, and Harry left soon after telling us the outcome.

I slipped away after class to go and see Severus but he was teaching a class. I wanted to go upstairs to the office to do homework, but that would be quite distracting to the other students. Instead, I went to the Hufflepuff common room and signed up for the apparition lessons. I wondered what Severus' reaction would be.

After the hour ended, I went back to Severus' classroom and up to the office where Severus was separating paper into three different stacks, a quill on the floor, and the inkpot laying on its side, ink spilling down the table and dripping onto the floor. He was saving the paper first.

"Scourgify." I muttered, cleaning up the ink. I picked up the pot and set it down on the chair with the quill.

"Thanks." Severus muttered, tossing three pieces of parchment onto one stack and the rest onto another. "An owl swooped through here."

"No problem." I said, kissing his cheek and setting my bag down and pulling out my homework before starting on the problems.

"By the way..." Severus said slowly, searching for something in his drawers, "You have an appointment with Madam Pomfrey tomorrow."

"I do?" I asked, puzzled, looking up from my potions homework. No one made an appointment with Madam Pomfrey and hearing those words was quite funny.

"Yes." Severus said, pulling out a fresh quill and slamming the drawer shut before sitting down in his chair, leaping up and removing the inkpot and quill from the chair. "It's a checkup, really, to see how the child's doing."

"Oh!" I exclaimed. I supposed I hadn't thought of checkups because I was in a magical school rather than in the muggle world. But muggle women went to doctors for checkups all the time to make sure that the baby was healthy. "That's fine."

"Good." Severus said, "I thought you might be difficult about it."

I stuck my tongue out at him before remembering that his back was to me.

I flew through the homework and when I was done, the sun had already fallen. I pulled out a fresh sheaf of paper and started to draw, letting my subconscious take over.

When I looked up again, Severus was deep in his papers, the candles low, the sun completely set. I set the pencil aside. Soot covered my fingers but there wasn't a single smudge on the paper. I set it down on the bed, grabbing a cloth and wiping my fingers while I observed the newest drawing of the strange place.

It was a hallway. The floor was tiled with a pattern of black and gold (if it was in color). There is a vine pattern on the tiles which also leads partly up certain parts of the stone walls till they reached the curved ceiling. But more unusual was that the hallway is filled with black chairs and café tables.

The tables and chairs are pushed up against the walls of the hallway in random order, not orderly. There are stacks of books on the chairs, all of them have gilded edges. There is also a cat, sitting on one of the tables. Its small and silver with large yellow eyes (if the drawing was colored).

There is a door between the vines, partly open, revealing part of a lit fireplace that is small and arched. I can see briefly that the floor is tiled still, checkered but also covered with rugs, navy colored (if the drawing was colored).

I set the drawing aside, placing it on top of the other drawings. All these drawings were unusual so they must be part of the magical world, it was the only explanation. But no one seemed to know where this place was. Not Tonks or Dad or Severus. But if this place was in the future, then no one would know about it would they.

Severus finally set his quill aside while I continued to add detail to the drawing. Adding thing, delicate whiskers to the silver cat. Defining the room to be more three-dimensional through the door. Adding a light here, a lightbulb there.

"It's lovely though unusual." Severus said, coming over, looking over my shoulder. He was shirtless and my heart started to pound, a complete overreaction considering how many times I'd seen him naked.

I set the drawing aside for a second time and hopefully the last time tonight. I stood up, running a hand over his abs. Severus pushed his lips against mine and we dissolved into each other. I wondered if it was possible to capture these scenes in drawing as well. But that might be a bad thing to do. What if someone found the drawings?

His fingers were cold, goosebumps appearing on my skin where he touched me. My hands were cold as well and I kept them under his back, heat radiating and warming them.

There really is no way to describe being together with someone. But it was sweeter, more romantic than that. It was perfect, the idea of a man and a woman that were meant to be together forever loving each other. Moving together as though they were of one mind.

That was how we moved, our mouths always met at the right moment, our hands, our legs, our bodies retracting and condensing and moving together.

No one could really understand how I could love someone older than me, someone like Severus. I suppose one only needed a night with him, one moment with him that he opened up and showed his true self.

His history was horrible to an outsider, to someone who didn't know what I knew. He was a Death Eater. He was a follower of Voldemort. He was evil and Dumbledore was a fool to trust him. He hated Harry Potter, he hates the boy who lived. He hated James Potter, he wanted them to die. His best friends are Death Eaters, he is using Dumbledore to keep him out of Azkaban.

But I knew what was true. He regretted joining the Death Eaters. He cared about Harry in his own way. He did not want Lily Potter to die and in order for her not to die, he did not want James to have died either. He was not evil. Dumbledore was not a fool to trust him. Voldemort was the fool.

And the sides that he didn't show anyone else. The sides that only I could see. The goodness in him, the love, the passion, the joy, the hopes, the dreams, the beliefs. Everything that made him, was mine to see, to explore, to exploit. It was mine to use and to love and to make passionately with. He was mine and I was his. We were us.

His fingers caressed my breasts, his lips made heart shapes on my neck, his manly parts made my female parts sore and loved. We rolled over so that I was underneath his weight. The candles went out in a gust, leaving smoke filtering through the room. His lips parted mine, pushing and caressing and loving.

Somewhere far away, bees were buzzing and keys were clinking in the wind and swords were clashing. Crowns were crashing and feathers were floating and hearts were beating. Somewhere far away, a heart beat slower and slower but I would never know about that heart, until everyone I loved was dead.

⬅️➡️

[braveclementine]

Chapter 24

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕴 𝖍𝖊𝖑𝖉 𝕽𝖊𝖒𝖚𝖘 in my arms, standing somewhere near Hagrid as we watched (with many younger students) as a powder-blue carriage the size of a house pulled by a dozen winged palominos soared through the last afternoon sky, settling down near Hagrid's cabin.

I watched as the large door opened and Madam Maxine walked from the house, throwing herself into Hagrid's waiting arms. There was a polite introduction, though of course, she recognized me from sight.

Trang was quite stunned at the sight of her, the carriage, and the horses. "Is that Hagrid's. . . well anything?"

I chuckled quietly, shifting my wait so that I could hold Remus more favorably. "Dating? Something like that."

"Wow." Trang said and we watched the two of them walk off into the woods.

"Hospital wing?" I asked.

"Hospital wing." Trang said.

We walked back up the slope to go and see Bill. Fleur was chattering happily about Bill's newest craving: rare steaks.

"Eet ees lucky 'e is marrying me, because ze British overcook thier meat, I 'ave always said this." Fleur said, fluffing Bill's pillow.

"Hey Eliza, Trang." Bill greeted us. I handed over Remus because I knew that Bill liked holding him.

"Rare steaks are good." Trang said, taking a chair near Hermione.

I scoffed, "How would you know?"

Trang grinned mysteriously and I rolled my eyes.

"I have something for you Harry." I said, reaching into my shoulder bag and pulling out a set of seven drawings and handed them over.

"This is Tom Riddles diary. . ." Harry said slowly and then stopped talking as he shifted through the drawings and then looked up, "Thanks Liz."

I simply nodded. Bill and Fleur were deep in another conversation and I sat closer to the rest of them.

"You wouldn't happen to know who R.A.B. is do you?" Hermione whispered.

I nodded, "Regulus Black."

"Sirius brother?" Harry whispered.

I nodded but said nothing as Bill and Fleur had finished their conversation and I said, "You were going to find out after their wedding." I said this in barely a whisper, jerking my head to mean Bill and Fleur. "You'll know what I mean when they day comes."

The next day came as a mournful one. Everyone woke up at around the same time which was early, dressing in mourning dress robes, and made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast that most of us would not eat.

I'd packed last night after leaving Bill in the hospital wing. Nearly all my things were in Severus' room so it was simple to pack and grab just a few things from the Hufflepuff common room. Trang picked up my drawings of swords and keys and bees and all the other things and places and people from the art studio, putting them into a folder but left all my other drawings there on the walls and tables and easels. If I came back, I wanted something to come back to.

I stood in front of the Great Hall, holding Remus in my arms, looking at the drawing across the room behind the teacher's chairs, confused.

I had never colored the drawing, but now, Dumbledore's character was in color, flawless color too. So was Quirrell's, which I did not understand. Professor Binns was also somewhat colored although he looked more shimmery than anything. Perhaps because the drawing would've been translucent as he was a ghost, I wasn't sure.

"I did a spell." Hermione's voice said at my shoulder. She came to stand next to me. Students passed us into the Great Hall. "When a teacher dies, their character on the drawing is filled in with color, giving them life in death."

"Thank you." I whispered. "It's wonderful."

"I wished only Dumbledore's was colored but the spell stuck, so unfortunately Quirrell will be standing out today as well." Hermione said.

"And so many more will be colored in in the next year." I whispered sadly. Professor Moody, Professor Burbage. . . Professor Snape. . . Professor Lupin. I smiled grimly and then headed to the Hufflepuff table to stare at food on the table.

Rufus Scrimgeour was sitting where Severus should have been sitting. I noticed that Hagrid was not at the table either. I assumed he couldn't have faced breakfast, not today.

Some of the students were talking amongst each other, making the Great Hall seem as though more people were talking than there really were.

Ernie stared down at the bacon and Hannah was picking at a muffin.

"Eat something." Susan said, pushing food in front of me.

"None of you are eating." I protested.

"I feel nauseous to say the least." Justin said. He did look a little green.

Ernie scowled.

"Something wrong Ernie?" I asked gently, biting off a piece of bacon. I knew Susan was making me eat because of Remus and that was alright.

"Smith." Ernie scowled, apparently to disgusted with Zacharias to say his first name.

"Ah!" Rose piped up from Justin's other side. I hadn't seen her.

I shook my head, "Zacharias. . . has. . . well there's really nothing that can be said to defend his actions. He didn't want to fight and his father took him away. He'll do the same thing the next time a fight comes."

Ernie scowled deeper. "He's a coward."

"I think he uses the word self-preservation." I said lightly. I wasn't really sure why I was defending him but I was. Perhaps I just didn't want someone to not be defended for their actions, no matter how wrong. "How was the battle? I missed some of it."

"It was boring on our end." Justin said, eager apparently to tell his story. "We waited in the entrance hall, you know? Around midnight we heard loud noises and shouts and we got ready but the Death Eaters didn't appear for almost thirty or so minutes after the first shouts. The battle seemed really one sided, they were more trying to get away than fight us."

I ate more food in silence while the others stared morosely at their plates. I wished for more details like what had happened to Katie and Dean and the Patil twins and Hannah and Terry and Anthony, but I asked no more. What I didn't know didn't hurt me.

"When did you color in the drawings?" Hannah asked suddenly.

"I didn't." I said, giving the credit where it was due. "It's a spell of Hermione's. When a Professor in the drawing passes away, life is brought to the drawing."

Ernie chuckled, "Smart girl."

"Only wish I'd thought of it." I said, smiling.

Professor McGonagall rose to her feet and the talk in the Great Hall died away at once. "It is nearly time, please follow your Heads of Houses out into the grounds. Gryffindors, after me."

Professor Sprout rose, wearing clean robes of yellow. There wasn't a speck of dirt, dust, or patches on any of her clothes. I'd never seen her look so clean and it was like looking at a walking, talking character from the opposite Professor portraits I'd drawn what seemed like years ago.

As we passed through the entrance hall, I saw Madam Pince standing besides Mr. Filch. I remembered a conversation that had to of been at the start of the year about a possible love between the two of them. Hermione and Harry had been part of that conversation.

We stepped out through the front door and light hit our faces. Remus held a tiny hand up, trying to grab the sunbeams. I had shaded his head with a small hat and I angled him in my arms so that he couldn't stare directly into the sun.

There were hundreds of chairs, set out in a row by the lake and forest. There was an aisle down the center, like a wedding rather. There was a marble table standing at the front which I knew was probably the coffin because all of the chairs were facing it.

The weather was to beautiful, to wrong.

There were many people already in the front half of the chairs.

Kingsley approached, much to my pleasure, to give me a hug and say hello to Remus, taking him from my hands and holding him above his head.

"Careful." I chastised.

"I won't drop him." Kingsley said, giving me a large smile. "His name?"

"Remus Sirius." I said. I didn't know what Kingsley did or did not know but he clarified for me, giving a low chuckle.

"Snape let that name slide?"

I grinned reluctantly but said nothing as Uncle Moody stomped over to say hello.

I recognized many other people. Tonks hair was back to pink, sitting with dad and holding hands. Fred and George were there too, who also greeted me and took interest in Remus. I noticed there were many shopkeepers from both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother sat there, anonymous, simply known as the bartender of Hog's Head.

Outside the windows, nearly invisible in the sunlight were the Hogwarts ghosts. I could pick out Nearly Headless Nick, the Fat Friar, Moaning Myrtle, and the Bloody Baron amongst many, many other ghosts. All of them were somber.

Even Peeves had shown up, slightly more visible than the ghosts. For once (and I'm sure it would never happen again) he looked somber. There was no smile on his face and there was nothing in his hands that suggested he would make a prank. He was simply sitting on a windowsill outside the castle, looking down on all of us.

I made my way to stand next to Firenze who was standing by the water's edge.

"Elizabeth Kane." Firenze said softly in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Firenze." I said.

"That is your child?"

"Remus Sirius Snape." I whispered.

"He's handsome." Firenze said. He seemed sad and another emotion I didn't recognize on his face. He seemed. . . almost. . . jealous? But perhaps I was reading his face wrong.

"Thank you."

We watched as Cornelius Fudge walked by. He looked miserable and I knew that he, for one, regretted that Dumbledore was dead. Some of the other Ministry wizards and witches had only feigned looks of sadness.

Rita Skeeter was here too, though I wasn't nearly as upset to see her than to see that Dolores Umbridge was here.

Yes, I had drawn her into the photo but that didn't mean I liked her. I hadn't liked Quirrell or Lockhart either, but there were certain respects you had to pay. But the fact that she was here at Dumbledore's funeral when she'd done nothing by try and get rid of him pissed me off. It made my blood boil.

She nearly sat down near dad and then when she saw him, hurried away. Even funnier was when she caught sight of Firenze and me and looked at Remus and nearly fainted. I snorted with laughter.

"I think," Firenze said slowly, "She believes the child to be ours."

"Yes." I said, slightly amused. "It was quite a lovely reaction."

Firenze chuckled and grew solemn again.

"I'm sorry." I said suddenly.

"For?"

"Dumbledore was the one who pulled you from the forest, from your home. I know you were doing him a favor, but in a way, he's the reason you were exiled from the forest. In a way, you might be mad Dumbledore died only a year later." I said slowly. "I don't mean to offend you though, if I am wrong."

"You have never offended me." Firenze said in a quiet voice. "You understand far more than the average wizard but then again, there really never was anything average about you."

I smiled a little bit and then he continued, "I suppose I am a little bitter, but I do not regret the decisions I have made, nor do I blame Dumbledore for me making the decision. It was my choice of course. I would have served Dumbledore to my death. I still would."

We fell silent as everyone became seated. I wondered briefly if it was even possible for a human and a Centaur to have a child and what the result would be. I fancied myself with Firenze for a moment, imaging what our child would look like. It kept my mind off other things.

I was one of the only people left standing, and though Trang and a few other people had obviously saved seats for me, I preferred standing here next to Firenze.

A strange music started to float through the air. At first, I thought it might be Fawkes again, but it came from somewhere else. I turned and slightly nudged Firenze and pointed to the water. The merpeople were singing below the surface.

Remus looked at them, probably not really able to see them for what they were. I was suddenly worried he'd start crying. Could silencing charms be used on babies or was that bad? And did contemplating that make me a bad mother?

But Remus did not cry and simply continued to stare on in curiosity, or maybe just in nothing as the Merpeople sung about loss and despair.

They continued to sing as Hagrid walked up the aisle between the chairs. He was crying silently, his face gleaming with tears. There was a large object wrapped in purple velvet that was embroidered with golden stars. It reminded me of one of the cloaks I'd drawn at an inn from the secret drawings with the sun and the moon.

I started to cry, tears falling down my face. Looking at many of the girls and women here, they were all doing the same. I reached out and took Firenze's hand for comfort, squeezing it. He squeezed back gently.

Hagrid placed the body carefully on the table and then walked back down the aisle, blowing his nose loudly. The noise drew scandalized and annoyed looks, almost all of them from the Ministry officials. I smiled a little. Dumbledore would've liked that. He knew how soft Hagrid was.

Grawp was in the very back, though some yards away from where Firenze and I stood at the waters edge. Hagrid sat down and Grawp patted Hagrid hard on the head, the chair legs of Hagrid's chair sank into the ground.

I laughed quietly under my breath.

The merpeople stopped singing.

There was a small tufty-haired man in plain black robes that had gotten to his feet and moved to stand in front of Dumbledore's body. He couldn't have been much taller than Professor Flitwick. His voice must've been high-pitched and squeaky like Professor Flitwick's too because from where we stood, we could not hear much of the speech.

Firenze probably heard more with his hearing.

There was a soft splashing noise and I looked over to see that the merpeople's heads had broken above water to listen. I smiled briefly at them before turning back to the small man up front as though I could hear his words.

Dumbledore had known Mermish. I wondered where he had learned it, how fluent he had been in it, and if he had ever taught it. I wondered if I could ever learn it.

"The centaurs are coming." I whispered up to Firenze, letting go of his hand carefully. If they saw us, I did not want them to see him holding my hand- the hand of a human. I smiled up at him gently.

"Yes." He said softly, giving me an understanding look, "They are in the trees."

Indeed, there seemed to be movement in the trees, though none of the Centaurs showed themselves.

I felt as though someone was watching me and I looked across from where I was standing but no one was looking at me. The hot air was just shimmering on the grass. I moved Remus Sirius to my other hip.

Finally, the small man stopped speaking and resumed his seat. No one moved, not even Professor McGonagall, who I thought would make some sort of speech, or the Minister. But no one moved an inch.

Then, bright white flames erupted around Dumbledore's body. A couple of people screamed. They were probably the Muggle born students or the parents of the Muggle born students. The ones who weren't expecting a body to catch on fire.

The flames also lit the table he was laying on, on fire too. The flames rose higher and higher. White smoke started to spiral through the air, making shapes. For a moment, it seemed as though a phoenix flew from the smoke into the blue but the flames were out a moment later and there was no phoenix in the sky. There was now a white marble coffin that Dumbledore was laying inside.

A shower of arrows soared gracefully through the air in neat, symmetrical arcs and landed a few feet from the coffin. It was the Centaurs' tribute. I saw the briefest glance of Ivagio's face before the Centaur's turned tail, heading back into the forest. The merpeople went back down into their lake.

People started to stand, talking to people they hadn't talked to prior to the funeral. Hands being shaken, conversations starting.

Firenze took my hand and squeezed it. "Until we meet again Elizabeth Kane."

I hugged him tightly before letting him go. He ran a hand over Remus' head before moving away from us.

He trotted back up to the castle, careful to pass by Dolores Umbridge, who jumped back with a shriek. I smiled.

Hermione and Ron joined me, Hermione taking Remus from my arms. I hadn't realized how sore they were. Her face was glazed with tears, Ron's arm around her. There were tearstains dropped all down the back of his dress robes. Hermione had obviously been crying all over him today.

Harry made his way towards us, to make a circuit around the lake. He got close, though not close enough to talk to us yet when behind him came Rufus Scrimgeour. "Harry!"

Harry turned, though not before we saw the briefest flash of annoyance cross his face.

"I've been hoping to have a word... do you mind if I walk a little way with you?"

"No." Harry said shortly, continuing on his way towards us.

"Harry, this was a dreadful tragedy. I cannot tell you how appalled I was to hear of it. Dumbledore was a very great wizard. We had our disagreements, as you know, but no one knows better than I-"

"What do you want?" Harry asked, having finally reached us.

"You are, of course, devastated. I know that you were very close to Dumbledore. I think you may have been his favorite pupil ever. The bond between the two of you-" Scrimgeour said, ignoring the rest of us completely. I saw over his shoulder that Kingsley, Mad-Eye, Tonks, and Dad were eyeing us with curiosity.

"What do you want?" Harry asked again.

Scrimgeour stopped, leaning on his walking stick, glancing at us. Professor McGonagall slowed to a stop near Kingsley.

"Say what you have to." Harry said, "But you'll have to say it in front of them."

"The word is that you were with him when he left the school the night that he died."

"Whose word?" Harry asked.

"Somebody Stupefied a Death Eater on top of the tower after Dumbledore died. There were also two broomsticks up there. The Ministry can add two and two, Harry."

"Glad to hear it. Well, where I went with Dumbledore and what we did is my business. He didn't want people to know." Harry said flatly.

"Such loyalty is admirable, of course, but Dumbledore is gone, Harry. He's gone."

"He will only be gone from the school when none here are loyal to him." Harry said, smiling.

"My dear boy. . . even Dumbledore cannot return from the-"

"It's what Harry said before killing the ghost of Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets." I said before I could stop myself. "It's what Dumbledore said before he was taken away by the Governors. Dumbledore's spirit lives on whether you believe that or not and so Harry will always be tied to that loyalty of him."

Harry and I exchanged a knowing glance, a good one. We were always going to stick to each other's sides now.

Scrimgeour hesitated and then said, "The Ministry can offer you all sorts of protection, you know, Harry. I would be delighted to place a couple of my Aurors at your service-"

Harry laughed which startled even me. "Voldemort wants to kill me himself, and Aurors won't stop him. So thanks for the offer, but no thanks."

"And you?" Scrimgeour asked, looking at me and then Remus in Hermione's arms. "You do have a, ah, child now."

"Like Harry said, Voldemort wants me, a few Aurors won't stop him. I can take care of myself, I know how to disappear off the grid." I said confidently.

"Because your father's a werewolf?" Scrimgeour asked.

My face flushed and I took a step towards him. Harry grabbed my arm, "Take that back!" I snapped. Tonks squeezed Dad's hand. Uncle Moody was now leaning on his walking stick, having stopped by Kingsley's side, eyeing Rufus with dislike. Professor McGonagall looked rather nervous, watching my face.

Scrimgeour seemed unfazed. "It was a comment, not a criticism." He turned to Harry. "So, the request I made of you at Christmas-"

"What request? Oh yeah. . . the one where I tell the world what a great job you're doing in exchange for-"

"-for raising everyone's morale!" Scrimgeour snapped. He'd finally lost his delicate, sorrowful tone and I bit my tongue to keep from commenting.

"Released Stan Shunpike yet?" Harry asked.

"I see you are-"

"Dumbledore's man through and through. That's right." Harry said.

Scrimgeour stared at the four of us for a moment and then stomped back to where Percy and a few of the other Ministry delegation, waiting for him near Hagrid and Grawp.

"Let me go back and hit Percy." Ron said.

Hermione grabbed his arm. "No!"

"It'll make me feel better!"

Harry and I laughed. Hermione grinned a little, her smiled faded though, looking back up at the castle.

"I can't bear the idea that we might never come back. How can Hogwarts close?" she asked.

"Maybe it won't. We're not in any more danger here than we are at home, are we? Everywhere's the same now. I'd even say Hogwarts is safer, there are more wizards inside to defend the place. What d'you reckon, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I'm not coming back even if it does reopen." Harry said.

"I knew you were going to say that. But then what will you do?" Hermione asked sadly.

"I'm going back to the Dursley's once more, because Dumbledore wanted me to. But it'll be a short visit, and then I'll be gone for good." Harry stated.

Remus started to fuss and Hermione handed him over.

"But where will you go if you don't come back to school?" Ron asked.

"I though I might go back to Godric's Hollow." Harry said. "For me, it started there, all of it. I've just got a feeling I need to go there. And I can visit my parents' graves, I'd like that."

"And then what?" Ron asked.

"Then I've got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, haven't I?" Harry asked. "I've got a list of them right now. That's what he wanted me to do, that's why he told me all about them. If Dumbledore was right- and I'm sure he was- there are still four of them out there. I've got to find them and destroy them, and then I've got to go after the seventh bit of Voldemort's soul, the bit that's still in his body, and I'm the one who's going to kill him. And if-" Harry stopped and cleared his throat and said nothing more.

There was a long silence, many of the stragglers were finally starting to make their way out except for Kingsley, Mad-Eye, Tonks, and Dad who were still watching us.

"We'll be there, Harry." Ron said.

"What?" Harry asked, taken aback.

"At your aunt and uncle's house. And then we'll go with you wherever you're going."

"No." Harry said quickly.

"You said to us once before that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?" Hermione asked softly and both Hermione and Ron looked at me.

I shook my head, "I'm sorry, I can't."

"Why?" Ron demanded.

"Because. . ." I said softly. "Remus. I can't leave him, not now and. . . and. . . I see all the people who. . . who die next year and. . . and let's just say. . . say I'm close to a few of them and I. . . I'm going to try and prevent them from dying. . . formulate a plan, make more Felix Felicis. And if I'm. . . not successful. . ." I drew in a deep breath, more tears falling down my face, "Then at least I spent time with them, you know?" My voice cracked.

"I understand." Harry said. "And I'm glad."

"I believe your words would have been, 'No parent should leave their child if they have a choice'." I said with a smile.

"I said that?" Harry asked, seeming surprised.

"Yes." I said. "Or, you will."

"Well," Ron said, "You're going to have to come round my mum and dad's house before we do anything else, even Godric's Hollow."

"Why?" Harry and I both asked.

"Bill and Fleur's wedding, remember?"

I stared at Ron for a moment and then started to laugh and the other three joined in with me and when we were finally able to stop laughing Harry said, "Yeah, we shouldn't miss that."

⬅️➡️

[braveclementine]

Chapter 23

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕴 𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 Hospital wing. Trang was sitting in a chair, holding Remus who was fast asleep. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both sitting by Bill, Fleur wide awake in a nearby chair. Neville was still asleep though Luna was nowhere to be seen. I supposed she'd gone back to the Ravenclaw tower.

Dad and Tonks were still at the far end of the room, talking. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were gone, probably back at the Gryffindor Tower. Madam Pomfrey came bustling over once she saw that I had returned.

"Good, now I can finish healing these burns." She started plastering paste all down one leg and wrapping it. "Your robes were ruined, I threw them out."

"How did you get burned?" Trang asked, somewhere behind me, "No one else showed signs of burns."

"Bellatrix Lestrange." I said aloud, "She set Hagrid's cabin on fire. I think Greyback pushed me in, I don't really remember."

"You shouldn't have fought." Trang said.

"Yeah there's a lot of stuff I shouldn't have done apparently, thanks!" I snapped, my temper rising. Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips.

"Just because Harry and everyone else here thinks you're an evil person doesn't mean I do." Trang said.

"What do you mean everyone?" Dad asked sharply, turning from Tonks. Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, and Fleur were looking up in interest and confusion.

"Oh puhlease." Trang snapped, "Say what you want Mr. Lupin, but I saw the look on your face."

"Trang that's enough." I said softly. "Doesn't matter."

"Obviously it does!" Trang started, "It's not your fault!"

"I never said it was!" Dad said hotly.

"No?" Trang flared, "I didn't hear you saying a word in defense as Harry was beating Elizabeth down! Or as he kept attacking her repeatedly, over and over. I'm really good at reading expressions and your face had a mixture of hate and disgust and regret on it, so excuse me for calling you evil!"

Remus started to cry again.

"Trang, stop." I said sharply, "Give me Remus."

"You should change his name." Trang said hotly, meanly, but she handed him over all the same. I forgot how cruel Trang could be if someone had hurt her friends or family.

Mr and Mrs. Weasley's mouths were open in shock, looking back and forth between Trang and I and Dad. Tonks looked hesitant, sitting by Dad, but looking from him to me like she wanted to say something.

"What did we miss?" Mr. Weasley asked in something that sounded like amazement.

"Nothing." Dad said shortly.

Trang launched into the whole story, adding details that including how much Dad apparently hated his daughter and how Harry was incorrect and other slightly (hugely) biased details. I sighed, putting my face in my hands. Trang could be extremely hot tempered and I was so glad that I wasn't her enemy.

"There." Madam Pomfrey said a few minutes after Trang had finished her story to which neither Mr. or Mrs. Weasley had anything to say. "You should stay over-"

"No thanks." I said quickly, getting to my feet, "I'll be fine."

I beckoned to Trang and the two of us left the room. "Where are you sleeping tonight?" Trang asked as we covered the hallways.

"Severus' room." I said softly. "Just going to lock myself in and put Remus to sleep and sob my heart out. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Sure." Trang said sadly, putting an arm around me. I let her hug me and then she headed for the Ravenclaw tower with heavy feet. I went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, opening the door and closing it softly behind me.

I slid down, my back against the door and wept, not even making it to the bed. I reached up, blindly reaching around for the lock and turned it. Remus was crying too, the only incentive that made me get to my feet so that I could reach the bedroom and put him in his crib.

I half expected Severus to be sitting on the bed waiting, but the room was empty, the bed made from this morning. I turned back around, thinking maybe I'd missed him. He'd be standing in the corner of the shadows, waiting to envelop me in his arms so that I could sob into his chest. I could feel his hair on my cheeks and I touched my cheek with my hand, finding that nothing was there.

His desk was clear, all homework graded and in neat stacks. Quills in ink pots, slimy things in jars on shelves, an art easel in the corner, the curtains pulled over the window, Harry's detention boxes collecting dust in the corner. Harry would never finish them.

I went back into the bedroom, closing that door and locking it too. I turned off the light, climbing under the covers. I reached for the pillow, getting ready to stuff it under my neck when my fingers touched parchment.

I flipped the light back on and reached under the pillow, pulling out an envelope. My name was handwritten on the outside of it with Severus' handwriting. With trembling fingers and a few papercuts, the letter was finally out of the envelope.

I unfolded the parchment and read:

Elizabeth, The love of my life, I know you know what's going to happen, that's an under- statement. You know far more than what I know. But I had to write this, just in case, you understand? It's a letter to you in case I never see you again and it's a letter to Remus in case I never see him again. You'll give it to him when he can read. I wish I'd been a better man, someone Remus could be proud to call his father. I don't know when I'll see you again. I won't say if ever because I believe I will see you again, it's the only thing that's keeping me on this path. Chances are you won't ever read this of course. It could be to painful for you to sleep in this bed ever again. Someone else could easily find it, but I have a good feeling about this so I'm writing it. I want you to realize that I know I'm leaving you in a terrible

position. It can't be easy, knowing the future. Someone might

blame you for Dumbledore's death, even though both you and I know that it was inevitable, that you could do nothing to persuade either of us from the plan. For that, I am sorry, it should not be your burden to carry. I'm even afraid (I hope I'm wrong and you curse me for it later) that your father will find you guilty. He's close with Dumbledore. I hope I'm wrong.

But despite what people say, despite what people might

think, I want you to know that I love you. Maybe that's not enough. Maybe you need the love of your friends. I know you care very much for your father. But I know you, and I know that you are strong. I know that you will be able to move past people's thoughts about you. I know that you will be the better person. I love you, I love you, I love you. I never thought I was a romantic, but I cannot seem to be able to write those words enough to know that you will know that I mean them. Perhaps I should've run away with you to Australia when we had the chance. I love you. I love Remus. I love you.

-S.S

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𝕭𝖊𝖙𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖒𝖞 𝖈𝖗𝖞𝖎𝖓𝖌 and Remus' crying, I didn't get much sleep that night. It was foolish, I knew that. Severus wasn't the one who had been lying dead under the Astronomy tower. Severus was fine- for now- and I would see him again next year.

But the weight of what had happened last night seemed to pierce right through my heart. In a way, Harry was right. I should've done more to save Dumbledore, but in a way, I thought I was more right. Dumbledore was okay with what happened, he asked Severus to do it.

I wondered, had I kept my mouth shut last night, would I feel so terrible this morning? Would Harry and I have had a fight? Would dad still feel repulsed by me still?

I lay in bed for a long time, watching the hands on the clock in the bedroom tick past, occasionally getting out of bed to feed or change Remus and then climbing back into bed in a sullen depression.

There was a knock on the door of the office but I didn't fee like leaving the bedroom. I heard the door open and knew someone must've used the Alohomora spell. Strangely, I didn't care you entered: student, Professor, dad, Tonks, friend, foe, Death Eater, Voldemort. It didn't really seem to matter anymore.

"Eliza?"

It wasn't the voice that I was expecting and I slid off the bed, and unlocked the bedroom door and pulled it open. Severus had never closed the bedroom door before, we'd always left it open so that it felt that the main room and the bedroom were one.

"Ginny, hi." I said softly.

"You look horrible." She said, coming in through the door. "How are you?"

I just stared at her.

"Right, stupid question. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with Ron, Hermione, Harry, and me." Ginny said. She went to the crib, peering over the edge, "You can bring your baby with you if you want."

"Right and have another shouting match with Harry? I don't think so." I said softly, climbing back into the bed, pulling the sheets around me.

Ginny turned from the crib to look at me. "Did you even eat anything today?"

"No." I whispered, "I can't go out."

Ginny sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hermione chewed out Harry last night."

"Why?" I asked.

"For what he said to you. It wasn't fair at all." Ginny said softly. "He shouldn't have said any of that."

"The damage is done." I whispered but I didn't cry. My tear ducts seemed to have dried up, "Dad already hates me."

"Lupin doesn't hate you." Ginny said kindly. "He's really broken up about what happened last night. Trang and him had it out again this morning. He wants to talk to you."

I sighed, "It doesn't matter. I mean, people say what they want you to think, don't they? I'm not really his daughter, you know? He isn't going to love me the same way he would love his own child. There's a gap. He admired Dumbledore. I could've. . . well I really couldn't. Dumbledore believed the only way for the future to unfold the way I told him was if he died. Maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong. Personally, I think he was right. Severus. . . well, I can't explain it, but Dumbledore was going to die anyways."

"Because another Death Eater would have killed him?" Ginny asked softly.

"No." I said, shaking my hand and letting the blankets drop a little bit, "His black hand was cursed. He only had a few more days to live anyways. If he hadn't died last night. . . well we still would be having a funeral, but probably after your O.W.L.s instead."

"Why didn't you tell anyone that?" Ginny asked. "Then there would've been an understanding-"

I shook my head, "Dumbledore wanted it to play out that way. Eventually, Harry will find out that Severus only killed Dumbledore because he asked him to. But until then, that little secret remains between you, me, and Trang, Ginny. Harry cannot know until he finds out on his own, do you understand?"

"Yes." Ginny sighed. "Trang knows then?"

"I tell her everything because she keeps every secret." I said softly. "And because she isn't part of the future. But you are and so is Harry and Hermione and Ron and everyone else here. I shouldn't have told you what I have and I did, and maybe that'll alter the future somewhat, but if Harry finds out what I've told you, the future could alter hugely, and that could end up being a very bad thing."

We sat in silence for a minute and then Ginny said, "There's something else you should know."

"And what's that?" I asked.

"The entire school knows you have a child, but- they don't know who the father is." Ginny said. "I just thought you should know before you go out there."

"Yes." I said sarcastically. "Because knowing everyone knows I have a child definitely makes me want to go out there."

Remus started to cry. Ginny hopped up from the bed, "Can I get him?"

I nodded. Ginny went over to the crib and picked Remus up and held him close to her. After a few minutes of bouncing her arms, he fell asleep again. "What's his name?"

"Remus Sirius Snape." I said.

"I'm surprised Snape even let you name him that." Ginny said lightly, obviously not wanting to start a fight. "Considering how much he hated Sirius."

"He understood it was something I had to do." I said and then I smiled a little and said, "I think the way he put it was 'at least you didn't name him James'."

Ginny laughed lightly.

I got out of bed, smoothing the covers over. I was wearing school clothes and I grabbed my robes to throw over them. I smoothed down my hair and used a little makeup to fix the red eyes and blotchy face.

"Elizabeth?" Another voice asked at the door.

"Hi Susan." I said unenthusiastically.

She came into the room and squealed with delight, "You do have a child!"

"Yeah his name is Remus Sirius." I said, not letting out the last name.

She smiled at me, " Can I hold him?" I motioned to Ginny to let Susan hold him.

"I think I'm going to go down to Hagrid's." I said to Ginny. "I'll take Remus with me. I don't really want to go into the Great Hall though."

"I'll get you food." Ginny said, "I'll meet you in the entrance hall." She left the room quickly.

"I'll go down with you, if you want." Susan said softly.

I nodded, my throat tightening. "I just hope I don't see a lot of people."

Susan and I went down the stairs. I wondered if the fact that she knew where to find me meant that she knew Severus was my husband or whatever the rumors were but she didn't let on.

"Was anyone seriously hurt last night?" I asked.

Susan shook her head, "I'm disappointed in Zacharias for not showing up but I never had time to confront him. His dad escorted him off the school property today."

I sighed, "I thought he might stay for the funeral."

"Me too." Susan said sadly. "Padma and Parvati Patil are both gone, their father picked them up before breakfast. They had a row, tried to stay at Hogwarts, but their dad refused. I heard he was livid that they had fought the Death Eaters. Seamus had a huge row with his mother in the entrance hall. She'll let him stay for the funeral though."

"They won't be the last students to have rows or leave." I said. "Parents aren't going to want their students in the school anymore, not that they'll have a choice next year."

Much to my relief, the hallways we were using had almost no students in them and the students we did see were first or second years and paid us no attention whatsoever because they didn't know us.

"Next year?" Susan asked.

I shook my head, "You'll find out sooner or later. Just stay safe next year."

"You won't be coming back?" Susan asked.

I hesitated, "I don't know yet. We'll see."

We passed the Great Hall and students were more abundant here. Ernie and Justin came running out of the Great Hall to join us, both of them showing exclamations of surprise at Remus, but no hard feelings were between us. I really did belong in Hufflepuff. It was ridiculous it had taken me six years to believe that.

Ginny was in the Entrance Hall, holding a basket of food which she thrust into Ernie's arms. "I'm going to go with Ron, Hermione, and Harry, we're going to see Bill in the hospital wing."

"Tell him I told him to get better." I said lightly. Ginny nodded and hurried up the marble staircase.

"Where are we going?" Ernie asked, staggering under the weight of the picnic basket. Susan giggled.

"If it's too heavy for you, you can always use magic." She teased.

"I was going to Hagrid's cabin." I said, "But we can have a picnic in the pumpkin patch. I should say hi to Buckbeak anyways."

"Buckbeak?" Ernie asked.

"Oh right, sorry, I meant Witherwings." I said with a grin, hoisting Remus higher up on my shoulder. He was blinking up at the bright sun, and waving his hand in the breeze.

There were lots of students outside and they all pointed as the four of us made our way down to Hagrid's cabin. The girls squealed and oohed and aahed from a distance about the baby. The boys seemed almost impressed for some reason.

Rose broke away from her group of friends to come and join us. I spread the blanket out in the pumpkin patch, petting Buckbeak's nose, holding Remus up so he could pet Buckbeak too. Buckbeak nuzzled Remus and then we went and sat down with the others.

Rose was delighted with Remus and asked to hold him. He was only a few weeks old and I was suddenly slightly worried about all the dangers that were outside but I let Rose hold him anyway and then produced a small umbrella and cradle out of a pumpkin so that he could fall asleep in the shade and also not be sunburned.

I had undone the spell on my wedding ring, making it visible to everyone. I figured now that everyone knew I had a child, they could all know I was married too. They just wouldn't know who I was married to.

Hagrid joined us some time later with his own food which we managed to avoid. He told us stories of old and of Dumbledore and of Hogwarts and battles and dragon trades and Acromantula and many other things.

Over the next couple of days, there were many people that we'd either seen before, or hadn't seen before but nobody I wanted to talk to.

I visited Bill in the hospital wing when the only person there was Fleur and Madam Pomfrey. He gave me a one armed hug and asked how I was doing, if it was true that I'd had a child with Severus, and what the child's name was.

But unlike many of the other people who were disturbed about the child and even more disturbed I'd had it with a Professor (like Bill's mother), Bill was quite pleased with the idea, and asked me if he could see Remus.

I brought my baby too him and he held him on his lap and said to Fleur, "We should have one of these."

"But of course!" Fleur exclaimed and went onto a long rant about how her and Bill would have about seventy children and half of them were name Gabrielle.

Neville hadn't been discharged yet, and Luna sat by his side quite frequently. Luna and Neville were also people who quite liked Remus and of course, Luna took the most unusual side of things that made someone want to hit her and laugh with her at the same time.

"You must have a case of Stranger's Aching." Luna said over a new edition of the Quibbler, "It's where people fall in love with their soulmate, but then fate intervenes and something happens and-"

Ginny started to giggle and I flushed. Bill looked confused and looked between Ginny, Fleur, and I for help understanding. Fleur hadn't been paying attention. Neville looked embarrassed for me.

"Thanks, Luna." I said, trying not to laugh. "I'll work on that."

Ginny giggled harder. Trang cracked a smile.

"So." Trang said, pulling something out of her bag. "I've done my research." She handed me a sheaf of paper.

I flipped through the pictures. They were stationary- Muggle candids of apartments and houses. "These are relatively cheap." She said. "But this one is near a park." She said, pointing to a small blue house with yellow shutters and a white porch. "It's older than the apartments but like I said, I did the research. It's perfect."

"Your moving?" Bill asked, frowning which contorted his face into more of a scowl.

"Of course." Trang said before I had a chance to even open my mouth. "Where else is she supposed to go?"

Bill moved uncomfortably in his bed. Fleur contributed this to being restless, and Trang and I left them alone.

"I don't know where to move to..." I said hesitantly, walking down the hallway. We were going to go outside with Remus. "I-"

"But where else can you possibly go?" Trang asked.

"Home." A different voice said from behind us. Trang scowled and I turned around hesitantly.

Dad stood there with Tonks. "Elizabeth, you should come home."

I swallowed hard. I wasn't ready for this conversation. I clutched Remus just a little tighter in my arms. "I. . ."

"Just come home." Dad repeated, almost pleading. My heart wrenched.

Trang was gritting her teeth loudly but she said nothing. This was my choice, she knew that.

"I don't. . . I think it'd be easier. . . for you if I-"

"No it wouldn't!" Dad said fiercely. "I want you to come home."

"It's not going to be the same." I whispered.

"Why?" Dad demanded. "Because I was upset with Dumbledore's death?"

"Because you blamed me for his death!" I protested, close to crying.

"I didn't." Dad denied. "I was trying to wrap my head around a difficult situation. That's not an excuse and in some aspects, Trang was right. I didn't stand up for you, and you don't know how much I regret not doing so. I should've told Harry off, I know that, and I didn't, and there is nothing I can do to change that, I can't turn back time! But I love you and I want you to come home and I want you to introduce me to my grandson and I want you to be there for Tonks and mine wedding and I want you to know that I'm always going to stand up for you, no matter what."

But he wouldn't. He was going to die and so was Tonks and Fred and Severus and Lavender and Colin and Uncle Moody and who knew how many other people.

"His name's Remus Sirius Snape." I whispered, holding him out for dad to hold. Dad took him gingerly in his arms and smiled down at him. Tonks smiled at me. I smiled back.

"I'm sorry." Trang said in a hard voice, not looking at dad. "I shouldn't have shouted at you."

"You put me in my place and though you were wrong about some things, you were also right about others. I just needed to hurt for a little bit." Dad said softly, waving a finger in Remus' face.

"I'll see you later." Trang whispered, putting a hand on my shoulder and then walked off.

"How old is he?" Tonks asked.

"A few weeks, about a month almost." I said. "June 4 was his birthday."

"Eliza!" A voice squealed and turned, nearly getting knocked over as Hermione threw her arms around me. Ginny was on her heels. Ron and Harry were much slower in following.

"Hi- Hermione- can't breathe."

Hermione let go of me quickly, smiling and said, "Oh, I'm so glad we ran into you! We were just on our way to go see Bill."

"Yeah, he's awake." I said. "At least he was when I left. Fleur's with him."

Ginny let out a dramatic sigh. Ron hurried past us and left with Ginny. Harry stopped in front of me, hesitating.

I didn't know who did it first, but in a moment we were both hugging each other and whispering that we were sorry and for each other to forgive the other and how stupid we were, yada yada.

Hermione was positively beaming.

From that day on, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Trang, and I were always together, almost always accompanied by Remus either asleep or crying and sometimes an extra friend from Hufflepuff. And even though I'd made up with Harry I did not forget the sense of acceptance that had come from Hufflepuff. I'd always belonged in Hufflepuff. I did not have to be my parents or Lupin.

I just had to be myself.

⬅️➡️

[braveclementine]

Chapter 22

Warnings: angst

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

"𝕺𝖚𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊, quickly." Severus said, grabbing Malfoy roughly, forcing him down the steps, not looking back. The other Death Eaters followed. Harry threw aside the Invisibility cloak and I emerged from my hiding place, turning human and grabbing my wand, following on Harry's heels.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The Death Eater buckled and fell to the ground. Harry and I clambered over him and continued to run down the dark staircase.

I heard Severus roar, "It's over, time to go!"

Harry plunged after them, I was going to follow except one of the fighters threw themselves at me, landing on me. I was looking at Severus, watching his eyes widen in fear and terror before smelling the blood and realizing that Greyback was the one on me.

He threw his head back getting ready to bit me and I reached up, abandoning my wand on the floor and elbowed him in the face. He reeled back, keeping a hold on me. A spell came out of nowhere, Severus' wand raised. Greyback flew backwards from me and I got to my feet my wand out.

"Hurry up!" Severus called, "Don't waste time on her."

But Greyback seemed in no mood to be listening to Severus. He lunged at me again, and I dodged out of the way and did the only thing I could do, I ran towards Severus.

Harry had nearly caught up to Severus and Severus turned, following Draco. Ginny was fighting Amycus. Harry stunned Amycus. I ran past Ron, Professor McGonagall, Dad, Ernie, and Terry. Dad's eyes were on me, falling behind to see Greyback was chasing me before ducking a spell that nearly killed him.

Tonks was fighting too.

"Harry, where did you come from?" Ginny asked but Harry avoided her.

"Take that!" Professor McGonagall shouted.

I stumbled, nearly falling, feeling nails scrap my back, and wished I could find the time to turn and hex him.

"Elizabeth! LEAVE HER ALONE!" Dad's voice was hoarse but no spells stopped Greyback from coming after me and I continued to run.

I found myself separated from Harry. I could hear Greyback on my tail and I leaped, unthinkably, from the Great Marble staircase. If I could even land it, it was about ten feet. I'd be lucky if I didn't break something.

Greyback on the other hand, was running three steps at a time. I landed, crouching, hitting my knee against the marble and continued to limp sprint towards the Entrance Hall. I could hear fighting and realized that the others must've met the Death Eaters and were now fighting.

I entered, seeing Padma dueling one of the Death Eaters. Bellatrix Lestrange was dueling Dean, Justin, and Seamus simultaneously. Her eyes lit on me and became excited. What was it with these stupid Death Eater's obsession with me?

Hannah threw a spell towards me and I ducked so that the spell hit Greyback in the face. He groaned, falling down the last few steps and I finally was able to turn and pull my wand on him.

Severus and Malfoy ran past. "Let's go! It's over!" He shouted again. Bellatrix sent out a spell. Dean, Justin, and Seamus all flew backwards, crashing into students and Death Eaters alike. The Death Eaters were up, following Severus out the door. Greyback too, though he was quite reluctant.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked as people picked themselves up off the floor.

"Yes." Justin said, looking around.

"Make your way up to the hospital wing." I said, my own back was killing me. Blood was pooling around my feet in small drops. Perhaps Greyback's claws had done more damage than I'd thought. "Even if you're not hurt, Professor McGonagall's orders."

They started to make their way up the stairs. Harry dashed past them, and I hurried to keep up with him, some paces behind.

Hagrid burst out of the cabin, trying to keep the Death Eaters from escaping. Harry started a duel from Severus and I kept up a duel with Greyback.

"I'm going to taste your flesh one day." Greyback laughed loudly, "A piece from your stomach or leg or arm or breast. You have one of the prettiest looks to you. Like flowers. The most beautiful ones are the most potent. I imagine your blood is something of the same."

My blood being compared to flower smells was slightly disorienting. "You're more of- a vampire- than a- werewolf." I snapped, blocking his spell. "Maybe you should- change sides."

Greyback roared with laughter and if we hadn't been dueling, I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd thrown his head back. "Funny, funny. But the meats always tender too, you know. But since I plan on turning you into a werewolf, I can't kill you."

"You can certainly try." I muttered. Severus seemed to be trying to get away from Harry, to pull Greyback away from me, but he was unable to because Harry kept shooting spells at him.

I heard Bellatrix Lestrange through the night air shout, "Incendio!'

"Hagrid!" I shouted, abandoning the battle with Greyback, passing Harry and hurrying as fast as possible towards Hagrid's cabin. He had Bowtruckles in there! I was supposed to come down tomorrow and help him return them to their respective trees!

"Cruc-!" Harry shouted somewhere behind me. I was almost to Hagrid's house. I'd passed Malfoy and Greyback and Severus now. I didn't realize I could run so fast.

I could hear Hagrid outside yelling, "Fang's in there, yer evil-" Hagrid bellowed.

I yanked the door to the cabin open, pulling out my wand and nonverbally thinking 'Augmenti.'

"Propulso!" Another voice shouted and I heard Severus shout, "No!"

The spell hit me in the back, knocking me into the burning house. I landed next to Fang who was whimpering. The Bowtruckles were laying on the table, waving there arms. I coughed, smoke filling my lungs. "A-Augmenti!"

I sprayed water all about the room, keeping the fire away from the Bowtruckles, Fang, and myself. I put the fire out from the inside.

I could hear Hagrid outside yelling, "Elizabeth, git out of there!" I think he tried to enter the cabin but the flames rose up near the door. I turned my wand to there. With my other hand, I held my hand out and the Bowtruckles jumped onto it. I waited till they were all on, still waving water around, and put the Bowtruckles up to my neck and they climbed into my hair.

"Come on Fang." I shouted, bending down and pushing Fang towards the door, a new jet of water clearing the way. Fang ran through. Most of the fire had been put out.

I emerged went to move out and the fire leapt up again. I cursed, stepping backwards. Hagrid moved into the cabin, his vest didn't catch fire. He grabbed me, picking me up in his arms and went out with me.

There was a loud BANG and I looked over to see Harry flying back. All the other Death Eaters had left. My eyes were stinging and my throat was rough. I coughed multiple times as Hagrid put me down in the grass.

"DON'T CALL ME COWARD!" Severus screamed in Harry's face.

"No! Buckbeak!" I said, jumping up and running towards Buckbeak, Bowtruckles hanging on for dear life, as Buckbeak flew towards Severus, scratching at him with his razor sharp claws. "Buckbeak, come here!" I commanded, grabbing Buckbeak's collar.

Severus was running and he looked back once. Our eyes met. 'I love you. Stay safe.' He mouthed, and then he turned, and I didn't see him again.

"Hagrid. HAGRID?" Harry asked, looking around. Harry sank to his knees, seeing that Hagrid was alright.

"Yeh all righ', Harry? Yeh all righ'? Speak ter me, Harry. . ." Hagrid said, leaning over Harry.

"I'm all right, are you?" Harry asked, his eyes swimming with tears. I didn't know if they were from pain or from sadness.

"'Course I am. . . take more'n that ter finish me." Hagrid said, putting his hands under Harry's arms and raised him upright.

"Elizabeth?" Harry asked, looking dazed.

"Just fine." I whispered.

"We should put out your house." Harry said and I turned to see the house had re-caught on fire but I wasn't surprised. "The charm's 'Aguamenti'. . ."

"Knew it was summat like that." Hagrid muttered and raised his pink umbrella and said, "Aguamenti."

Harry and I repeated the spell and together, we put out his house. Looking inside, there wasn't much left. Perhaps the contents inside the dresser would have survived and some of the dishes in the cupboards but other than that. . .

"S' not too bad." Hagrid said. "Nothin' Dumbledore won' be able to put righ'..."

"Hagrid. . ." I said quietly.

"Hagrid. . ." Harry said.

"I was bindin' up a couple o' bowtruckle legs when I heard 'em comin'," Hagrid said in a sad voice. "They'll've bin burnt ter twigs, poor little things. . ."

"Oh here," I said, turning around, pointing. The bowtruckles were standing on my head, grabbing onto my hair. It was becoming painful. Hagrid chuckled, holding out his hand. The bowtruckles traversed across and hopped into one of Hagrid's large pockets.

"Hagrid." Harry tried again.

"But what happened, Harry? I jus' saw them Death Eaters runnin' down from the castle, but what the ruddy hell was Snape doin' with 'em? Where's he gone- was he chasin' them?" Hagrid asked.

"No." I said softly, my voicing constricting in my throat.

"He. . . Hagrid, he killed. . ." Harry seemed unable to say the words.

"Killed?" Hagrid said in a loud voice. Dread and anxiety and fear and nerves were congealing in the bottom of my stomach. "Snape killed? What're yeh on abou', Harry?"

"Dumbledore, Snape killed. . . Dumbledore." Harry managed to say.

Hagrid simply looked at him, and then at me and said, "Dumbledore wha', Harry?"

"He's dead. Snape killed him. . ."

"Don' say that." Hagrid said in a rough voice. Of course he wouldn't want to believe Harry. I wouldn't want to believe him either. Dumbledore, the last hope in everyone's minds but mine, knowing where the true hero, the person who would really bring down Voldemort lay. "Snape kill Dumbledore- don' be stupid, Harry. Wha's made yeh say tha'?"

"I saw it happen." Harry said numbly.

"Me too." I said softly and Harry looked at me and then remembered my Animagus and gave a random nod of his head.

"No, yeh couldn' have." Hagrid said fiercely.

Harry and I exchanged a look. Hagrid continued to shake his head. "What musta happened was, Dumbledore musta told Snape ter go with them Death Eaters. I suppose he's gotta keep his cover. Look, let's get yeh back up ter the school. Come on, Harry. . . Elizabeth. . ."

Neither of us attempted to convince Hagrid otherwise. Once we were up to the school, we would be near the Astronomy tower. Hagrid would see Dumbledore's body.

I think I was bleeding somewhere, but I had no idea where or from what. It could've been my imagination, of course. It was probably just water. . . or sweat. Had I been bleeding before? I couldn't quite remember at the moment.

Half the windows in the castle were lit. There had been a loud racket, rumors had flown, people had been hiding in the Great Hall as the Death Eaters passed through, attracted by the noise. I supposed everyone knew the story of the Death Eaters by now.

The front doors were standing open from where Harry and I had burst through after the Death Eaters. What a stupid move on my part, following Harry. I should've gone up to the Hospital wing.

People were walking down the marble steps, making their way to the place under the Dark Mark. They were probably seeing if someone was actually dead or if it was a prank.

"What're they all lookin' at?" Hagrid asked as we started to get closer. "Wha's tha', lyin' on the grass? See it, Harry? Righ' at the foot o' the tower? See it, Elizabeth? Under where the Mark. . . Blimey. . . yeh don' think someone got thrown-?

Harry was silent as the three of us moved towards the bottom of the Astronomy tower. There were people whispering and murmuring and crying as we made our way. We finally reached it and I heard Hagrid moan with pain and shock. Harry continued to walk but I stopped by Hagrid's side, sliding my miniscule hand into his abnormally large one. He squeezed it, probably crushing all the bones in it, but I did not let go.

Harry pushed past the crowd until he was next to the body and bent down to be next to him. He stayed there for a long time, putting the spectacles more straight on Dumbledore's nose, wiping blood from Dumbledore's mouth.

He pulled something out from underneath his knee and opened something. The locket. Though I could not make out what was on it, the terrible words had already burned into my head like a teasing. The fact that Dumbledore became weak for something that wasn't even real:

To the Dark Lord

I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B.

There was a sound of crumpling paper and I knew Harry had smashed the paper in his fist. Fang began to howl. Hagrid let go of my hand, moving forward, parting the crowd, and put his hand on Harry's shoulder, "C'mere, Harry. . ."

"No."

Ginny was moving down the steps, hurrying towards the astronomy tower. She gave me the briefest of looks and a slight nod.

"Yeh can' stay here, Harry. . . Come on, now. . ." Hagrid tried again.

"No."

"Harry, come on." Ginny said, sliding her hand into Harry's. Harry took it obediently and followed her back through the castle.

The sobs and cries were louder combined with piercing wails.

I made my legs move, abandoning the scene and following Ginny and Harry, a few paces behind. We passed through the entrance hall. There were many faces, all staring out, murmuring. There voices seemed to become a dull buzz. Gryffindor rubies scattered the floor like blood. Fitting.

"We're going to the hospital wing." Ginny's voice was clearer above the general buzz or static or noise, whatever you wanted to call it.

"I'm not hurt."

Harry's voice was very clear too.

"It's McGonagall's orders. Everyone's up there, Ron and Hermione and Lupin and everyone-" Ginny said.

"Ginny, who else is dead?" Harry interrupted.

"Don't worry, none of us." Ginny said calmly. Relief stirred my heart and I was able to breathe easier than before. I hadn't realized I'd been holding in.

"But the Dark Mark- Malfoy said he stepped over a body-" Harry protested.

"He stepped over Bill, but it's all right, he's alive."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. . . he's a- a bit of a mess, that's all. Greyback attacked him. Madam Pomfrey says he won't- won't look the same anymore. . . we don't really know what the aftereffects will be- I mean, Greyback being a werewolf, but not transformed at the time."

Greyback had really just wanted me. If I'd stayed down there, if I'd kept dueling Greyback, hell if Greyback had taken a chunk out of me- would Bill have been okay? But I couldn't have risked that, could I? I had Remus to think about.

"But the others. . . There were other bodies on the ground. . ." Harry prodded.

"Neville and Professor Flitwick are both hurt, but Madam Pomfrey says they'll be alright. And a Death Eater's dead, he got hit by a Killing Curse that huge blond one was firing off everywhere- Dean, Seamus, Anthony, Parvati, Ernie, and a few others got some cuts and bruises but Madam Pomfrey healed them right up and they were fit to go back to the dorms- Harry, if we hadn't had your Felix potions, I think we'd all have been killed, but everything seemed to just miss us-"

They entered the hospital wing and Dad approached them. I stayed outside the doors, listening in, my back on the other side.

"Are you all right, Harry?"

"I'm fine. . . How's Bill?" Harry asked.

No one answered. "Where's Elizabeth?" Dad asked. His voice sounded slightly panicky.

There was a slight pause and then Ginny said, "I don't know. . . she was following us a moment ago. . . I thought she was coming with us."

"Can't you fix them with a charm or something?" Harry was asking.

"No charm will work on these. I've tried everything I know, but there is no cure for werewolf bites." Madam Pomfrey's voice came.

"But he wasn't bitten at full moon." Ron's voice floated through the open doors. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill won't be a- a real-?"

"No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf." Dad's voice was filled with anxiety and I got ready to enter the room. "but that does not mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully, and- and Bill might have some wolfish characteristics from now on- Elizabeth!"

Dad threw himself across the room and hugged me tightly. "Thank Merlin." He mumbled in my ear.

I pulled away, going to stand by one of the empty beds, a dead look on my face. I noticed Dad had blood on his hands from where he'd touched my back. Dad didn't seem to notice, watching me with concern.

Ron was furious "Dumbledore might know something that'd work, though. Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state-"

"Ron- Dumbledore's dead." Ginny said.

Trang came out of the room at that moment. She did not have Remus in her arms, and she came to stand by me, but gave me space, sizing up the look on my face.

"No!" Dad said, looking between Ginny to Harry to me and then he collapsed into a chair beside Bill's bed. I couldn't look at him at that moment.

"How did he die? How did it happen?" Tonks whispered. Madam Pomfrey was standing still, looking at Harry as though she'd never seen him before.

"Snape killed him." Harry said and I saw Dad and Madam Pomfrey's eyes flash to me. Madam Pomfrey looked away quickly, but dad continued to look at me. "I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was. . . Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realized it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilized me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the Invisibility Cloak- and then Malfoy came through the door and disarmed him."

Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth. Ron groaned. I had barely registered that Neville was fast asleep or that Luna was in a chair near Neville's bed. I found my knees buckling and Trang darted, catching me and lowering me into a chair. I felt faint and I shouldn't have because I knew all of this was happening. But I already knew seeing and experiencing were two different things. I should've been ready.

"More Death Eaters arrived- and then Snape- and Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra." Harry stopped talking.

Madam Pomfrey burst into tears.

"Shh." Ginny said.

Madam Pomfrey gulped, pressing her fingers to her mouth, her eyes were wide. Somewhere outside, a phoenix was singing a song of lament. I could nearly hear words on the song... faint but they were there. I wasn't sure what they said, but they were sorrowful and yet beautiful at the same time.

No one spoke until the ward opened and Professor McGonagall came in. Her robes were ribbed and there were grazes on her face.

"Molly and Arthur are on their way. Harry, what happened? According to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when he- when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some-"

"Snape killed Dumbledore." Harry said.

Professor McGonagall just stared at Harry and then seemed to sway on the spot. Madam Pomfrey pulled herself together enough to conjure a chair out of thin air and pushed the chair under Professor McGonagall quickly as she fell into it.

"Snape. . .we all wondered. . . but he trusted. . . always. . . Snape. . . I can't believe it." Professor McGonagall's voice was faint and as she wasn't looking at me I could only assume that either a) Professor Dumbledore had never told her that Severus and I were together or b) she was to ashamed or afraid to look at me. For a horrible moment, I felt like an intruder, like I didn't belong to this group.

"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens, we always knew that." Dad said in a particularly harsh voice, but I didn't glare at him like I would've before. I continued to stare motionlessly at the floor.

"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side! I always though Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't. . ." Tonks said.

"He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape. I mean. . ." Professor McGonagall dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. ". . . with Snape's history. . . of course people were bound to wonder. . . but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine. . . Wouldn't hear a word against him!"

Because Severus was on our side. I couldn't wait for the day when they realized that. Of course, when that day came, Dad and Tonks wouldn't even know. They'd be dead and so would Severus.

"I'd love to know what Snape told him to convince him." Tonks said.

"I know." Harry said. "Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. The Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realized what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead."

"And Dumbledore believed that?" Dad asked incredulously. "Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James. . ."

"And he didn't think my mother was worth a damn either, because she was Muggle-born. . . 'Mudblood,' he called her. . ." Harry said.

"No." I said and everyone turned to look at me but I did not look at any of them, "No, he loved her. It was an accident, the word slipped from his mouth. They used to be friends and she never forgave him. But he loved-"

"Of course you'd defend him!" Harry snapped.

"I'm not defending what he did." I muttered.

"You knew!" Harry yelled. "You knew didn't you! You had to have known, with your visions! What? You went up to the tower to watch him die? Was it like a movie to you or something?"

Before I knew what I was doing, I was on my feet and I had slapped Harry across the face. The sound echoed through the hospital wing before it was covered up by my shouting.

"Don't you dare!" I snapped. "Do you think that I wanted Dumbledore dead? I went to him! I told him he was going to die! I told him that Severus was going to kill him! Didn't you listen to anything Dumbledore said? Didn't you hear him? He said 'But as for being about to kill me, Draco, well first, Miss Kane alerted me that you would not be the one to kill me and I'm determined to take her word on that'. I told him Harry! I told him! He kept telling Draco that I told him he was going to die! Open your ears! Do you ever hear anything I ever say! Why do you think he's the only Professor who signed the artwork? I asked him to because I knew he was going to die- because he knew he was going to die!"

"If you really did then why is Dumbledore dead! Why didn't he do something?" Harry yelled. We were in each other's faces. All the adults and kids in the room had frozen, even Trang.

"I don't know! I don't know okay! He didn't say anything, all he did was listen!"

"You're lying." Harry shouted, pushing my shoulders. Dad was on his feet in a second, a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry shrugged him off. "Then why didn't you tell Severus not to kill him? I mean, you're the one sleeping with him, aren't you?"

My face turned purple. "Oh! Why didn't you learn how to nonverbally undo the Petrificus Totalus spell? Then maybe you could've done something instead of blaming everything on me!"

"Enough!" Dad shouted. We both stopped, our chests heaving, glaring at each other with hate in our eyes. I hated him.

"This is all my fault." Professor McGonagall whispered and I jerked my head to look at her. She was twisting her handkerchief in her hands and continued on saying, "My fault. I sent Filius to fetch Snape tonight, I actually sent for him to come and help us! If I hadn't alerted Snape to what was going on, he might never have joined forces with the Death Eaters. I don't think he knew they were there before Filius told him, I don't think he knew they were coming."

"Of course he knew." Harry snapped, "Elizabeth probably told him. What are you still doing here anyways? Why didn't you just go with him?"

Trang pushed past me and glared at Harry, getting into his face, "There are things that you don't understand. Shut up Harry!" I grabbed her arm.

"It's no ones fault." Dad said sharply. "We all wanted more help, we were glad to think Snape was on his way. . ."

Harry turned his back on me. "So when he arrived at the fight, he joined in on the Death Eater's side?"

"I don't know exactly how it happened. It's all so confusing. . . Dumbledore had told us that he would be leaving the school for a few hours and that we were to patrol the corridors just in case. . . Remus, Bill, and Nymphadora were to join us. . . and so we patrolled. All seemed quite. Every secret passageway out of the school was covered. We knew nobody could fly in. There were powerful enchantments on every entrance into the castle. I still don't know how the Death Eaters can possibly have entered. . ." Professor McGonagall said.

"I do." Harry said and explained about the Vanishing cabinets and then said, "So they got in through the Room of Requirement." He glanced over to where Ron and Hermione were sitting.

"I messed up, Harry." Ron said. "We did like you told us; we all gathered in the Great Hall because there were people from three of the houses. We checked the Marauder's Map and we couldn't see Malfoy on it, so we thought. . . well to be quite frank, Eliza told us he was in the room. Ginny, Neville, Seamus, and I went to look after it. . . but Malfoy got past us."

Harry stiffened at my name, but did not look at me.

"He came out of the room about an hour after we started keeping watch." Ginny said. "He was on his own, clutching that awful shriveled arm-"

"His Hand of Glory." Ron interjected, "Gives light only to the holder, remember?"

"Anyway." Ginny said. "he must have been checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death Eaters out, because the moment he saw us he threw something into the air and it all went pitch-black-"

Ron interrupted again, "-Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Fred and George's. I'm going to be having a word with them about who they let buy their products."

Fred would be dead next year.

George would be missing an ear.

"We tried everything, Lumos, Incendio, nothing would penetrate the darkness; all we could do was grope our way out of the corridor again, and meanwhile we could hear people rushing past us. Obviously Malfoy could see because of that hand thing and was guiding them, but we didn't dare use any curses or anything in case we hit each other, and by the time we'd reached a corridor that was light, they'd gone."

"Luckily." Dad said. "Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Seamus ran into us almost immediately and told us what had happened. We found the Death Eaters minutes later, battling their way to the Astronomy tower with a group of students that Elizabeth was leading. One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed up the tower stairs-"

"To set off the Mark?" Harry asked.

"He must have done, yes, they must have arranged that before they left the Room of Requirement. But I don't think Gibbon liked the idea of waiting up there alone for Dumbledore because he came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight and was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me."

I flinched. Dad would be dead next year.

Tonks would be laying next to him.

"So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville and Seamus, were you-" Harry asked, turning to Hermione.

"Outside Snape's office, yes." Hermione whispered, her eyes were sparkling with tears. "With Luna and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff-"

"Let me guess, another one of Elizabeth's suggestions?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.

I thought about dramatically standing up and walking from the room but didn't have the energy for it, and I just sat there, taking Harry's verbal abuse without a word or movement or acknowledgement. I could hear random dripping noises.

I felt emptier knowing that dad wasn't defending me. But I wasn't his daughter, he didn't have the same love for me as my parents would have. I wondered randomly, perhaps slightly irrationally, if I even had a home after today. But I was probably being dramatic. I was good at being dramatic.

"Well. . . yes." Hermione said reluctantly, "We hung around for ages outside it and nothing happened. . . We didn't know what was going on upstairs, Ron had taken the map. . . It was nearly midnight when Professor Flitwick came sprinting down into the dungeons. He was shouting about Death Eaters in the castle, I don't think he really registered that Hannah, Luna, and I were there at all, he just burst his way into Snape's office and we heard him saying that Snape had to go back with him and help and then we heard a loud thump and Snape came hurtling out of his room and he saw us and- and-"

"What?" Harry asked.

"I was so stupid, Harry! He said Professor Flitwick had collapsed and that we should go and take care of him while he- while he went to help fight the Death Eaters- we went into his office to see if we could help Professor Flitwick and found him unconscious on the floor. . . and oh, it's so obvious now, Snape must have Stupefied Flitwick, but we didn't realize, Harry, we didn't realize, we just let Snape go!" Hermione wailed, her words half muffled from having her hands over her face.

"It's not your fault." Dad said firmly, much more firm than he had said it about me previously. I nearly smirked. Even my own dad thought I was to blame for Dumbledore's death. Of course, he wasn't even my dad now, was he? "Hermione, had you not obeyed Snape and got out of the way, he probably would have killed you, Hannah, and Luna."

No, no he wouldn't have.

But now I knew why Dumbledore had mentioned me so many times. He was trying to tell Harry not to blame me. He kept saying that I had warned him. But Harry wasn't listening.

"So then he came upstairs." Harry said. "and he found the place where you were all fighting. . ."

"We weren't really in all that much trouble to be honest." Tonks said softly. "Thanks to Elizabeth, we had plenty of reinforcements. Of course, Gibbon was down and that helped too. But Neville had been hurt, Bill had been savaged by Greyback. . . a few students with Ravenclaw robes were lying near Neville, I thought they were dead for a few moments. . . it was all dark. . . curses flying everywhere. . . The Malfoy boy had vanished, he must have slipped past, up the stairs. . . then more of them ran after him, but one of them blocked the stair behind them with some kind of curse. . . Neville ran at it and got thrown up into the air-"

Once again, I nearly smiled. Typical Neville. Brave and loyal and courageous and no one but Hannah was really ever going to see that. And Tonks was defending me. . . kind've. Maybe I could stay at her place.

"None of us could break through and that massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over the place, they were bouncing off the walls and barely missing us. . ." Ron said.

"And then Snape was there, and then he wasn't-" Tonks mentioned.

Ginny continued the story, "I saw him running toward us, but that huge Death Eater's jinxed just missed me right afterward and I ducked and lost track of things."

"I saw him run through the cursed barrier as though it wasn't there. I tried to follow him, but was thrown back just like Neville. . ." Dad said.

"He must have known a spell we didn't. After all- he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. . . I just assumed that he was in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who'd escaped up to the tower. . ." Professor McGonagall said.

I nearly opened my mouth to say that it was because he had the Dark Mark on him, but thought that if I said nothing for the rest of the night, I might pass into the shadows like a ghost. Maybe I wouldn't go home after all. I'd stay here with Remus, living in Severus' room or maybe the kitchen or the Hufflepuff common room. I could certainly get food from the kitchen. Dobby would be more than swilling to help me. It could be just Remus and us. It didn't sound like anyone but Trang and possibly Tonks were going to miss me anyways.

Dobby would be dead next year.

Or maybe I'd finally find out where that key Sirius gave me for my fourth birthday led to. Or I'd just move into Grimmauld place.

"He was." Harry said savagely, spitting the words in such a hateful way they could only be meant for me, "but to help them, not to stop them. . . and I'll bet you had to have a Dark mark to get through that barrier- so what happened when he came back down?"

"Well, the big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the stairs. We all ran forward- those of us who were still standing anyway- and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the dust- obviously, none of us attacked him-" Dad started.

I was still staring down at the floor and noticed that blood was staring to drop from somewhere off me, onto the floor. No one seemed to notice, not even Trang whose eyes were on the others, mostly Harry, glaring. Madam Pomfrey's gaze was on whoever was talking. Professor McGonagall was to shocked to notice anything.

So that was the dripping noise.

"We just let them pass." Tonks said, her voice hollow. "We thought they were being chased by the Death Eaters- and next thing, the other Death Eaters and Greyback were back and we were fighting again- I thought I heard Snape shout something, but I don't know what-"

"He shouted, 'It's over,' He'd done what he'd meant to do." Harry said.

Everyone fell silent. It was so quiet, despite the song playing outside, that I could hear my blood dripping onto the tile. It caught Trang's attention immediately.

"Madam Pomfrey, Elizabeth's-" Trang started.

"Doesn't matter." I muttered, "I don't care." I waved Madam Pomfrey's hands away, moving back from the chair. Blood continued to drip steadily onto the floor. I wondered where it had come from.

Trang opened her mouth to protest when the hospital doors flew open. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley strode down the ward, Fleur was behind them and I loved how terrified she was, how much she loved Bill. I started to cry in earnest, leaning on Trang's shoulder.

"You really should let Madam Pomfrey fix you up." Trang whispered in my ear and I shook my head.

"I can't." I said. "I miss Severus and that's obviously a crime. It seems like I'm not even fit to live. I mean. . .Dad doesn't even seem to want to associate with me anymore, did you notice that?"

Trang shot a nasty look dad's way. "You can come home with me if you want."

I smiled a watery smile, "I'm sure your parents would be pleased with that."

Trang shrugged, "I have a lot of money. We'll rent an apartment in the city. Near a daycare and a pool and a park. Hell, we don't have to come back here next year. Severus can find you, the two of you can stay with me. Everything will be fine and dandy."

"It is a nice daydream." I said with another watery smile, wiping away tears.

"And Dumbledore. . . Minerva, is it true. . . Is he really. . ." Mr. Weasley was saying to Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall nodded.

"Dumbledore gone." Mr. Weasley whispered. Mrs. Weasley began to sob over Bill's body.

"Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks. . . It's not r-really important. . . but he was a very handsome little b-boy. . . always very handsome. . . and he was g-going to be married?"

"And what do you mean by zat?" Fleur asked loudly. "What do you mean, ''e was going to be married?'"

"Well- only that-" Mrs. Weasley seemed quite taken aback.

"You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore? You theenk, because of these bites, he will not love me?"

"No, that's not what I-"

"Because 'e will! It would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!" Fleur declared, sweeping her long hair back.

"Well, yes, I'm sure, but I thought perhaps- given how- how he-" Mrs. Weasley struggled to put the words out there and I wasn't in the mood to help.

"You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps, you hoped?" Fleur's nostrils flared and despite everything I felt right now, I was quite proud of her. Admired her even. I wished I could be something like her, the confidence she carried herself with at least, "What do I care how he looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! all these scars show is zat my husband is brave! And I shall do zat!" She took the ointment from Mrs. Weasleys hands, pushing her aside.

Mrs. Weasley leaned against Mr. Weasley. Trang and I exchanged a glance. Comedic relief was the random thought that passed through my head.

No one moved. We were waiting for an explosion.

But no explosion came. Instead, Mrs. Weasley said, rather stiffly, "Our Great-Auntie Muriel has a very beautiful tiara- goblin-made- which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill, you know, and it would look lovely with your hair."

"Thank you. I am sure zat will be lovely." Fleur said in a stiff voice.

And then, they were both crying and hugging each other. Perhaps the world had turned upside down. I felt like laughing.

"You see!" A strained voice said above the crying, "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"

"It's different." Dad said, barely moving his lips and staring at the floor. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely-"

"But I don't care either, I don't care!" Tonks said, seizing the front of Dad's robes. "I've told you a million times and Elizabeth," Tonks turned to me, "Tell him, tell him you saw it."

"I don't think my opinion matters." I mumbled. Blood was falling thicker and Madam Pomfrey was hovering.

"And I've told you a million times," Dad said, not meeting her eyes or mine, "that I am too old for you, too poor. . . too dangerous. . ."

"I've said all along you're taking a ridiculous line on this, Remus." Mrs. Weasley said, patting Fleur on the back.

"I am not being ridiculous. Tonks deserves somebody young and whole."

"But she wants you." Mr. Weasley said with a smile, "And after all, Remus, young and whole men do not necessarily remain so." He gestured to his son.

"This is. . . not the moment to discuss it." Dad said, avoiding everyone's eyes that were now on him. "Dumbledore is dead. . ."

"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world." Professor McGonagall said as the doors opened and Hagrid walked in.

"If my opinion means anything to you." I said, putting as much bitterment and resentment into my words as possible, "I already see the ring."

"I've. . . I've done it, Professor. M-moved him. Professor Sprout's got the kids back in bed. Professor Flitwick's lyin' down, but he says he'll be all righ' in a jiffy, an' Professor Slughorn says the Ministry's bin informed."

"Thank you Hagrid. I shall-" Professor McGonagall broke off, stunned by the newest noise that had joined the fray of crying and shouting and talking and phoenix songs; a baby crying.

I sighed, closing my eyes.

"He was asleep moments ago." Trang muttered under her breath.

"It's fine," I muttered, cheeks burning. This wasn't exactly how I planned on all my friends- If I could still call them that- on finding out I had a child.

I pushed past Madam Pomfrey, leaving an obvious trail of blood in my wake as I made my way to the office.

"You really should let me clean you before you hold him." Madam Pomfrey fretted.

"Yeah well if he gets a little blood on him, so what? It wouldn't be the worst thing I've done tonight apparently." I snapped, walking through the office door.

Remus was sitting on a towel and I picked him up, bouncing him up and down gently in rhythmic movements. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on Madam Pomfrey, she wasn't judging me, as far as I could tell. Just Dad and Harry and everyone else except Trang and possibly Tonks.

I carried Remus back into the room and eyes landed on him but I moved past everyone, heading towards Trang.

Dad should've held Remus, should've held his grandson tonight but I was too bitter. I held onto my grudges far to long. Dad wasn't going to be holding his grandson anytime soon.

"You two had a child?" Harry asked, his voice rising an octave, sounding as though he was about to start shouting again.

I refused to answer.

"Can someone please explain what's going on?" Ron asked, looking between Harry, the child, and me. I sat down in a wooden chair, closing my eyes and blocking everyone out. It was just me and my child.

"Snape." Harry said. "Snape is her. . . lover. . . they're engaged. That's their child."

"Of course." Professor McGonagall said. "From what Barty Crouch Jr. said, the only vision you've ever seen about yourself. You and Snape."

I gave the briefest of nods, still not opening my eyes.

"How could-?" Ron started and I didn't even let him finish the question.

I stood up, walking towards the exit and Madam Pomfrey's voice rose an octave, "You really must let me heal whatever wound your bleeding from! You could die of blood loss!"

"Then let me die." I snapped dramatically, but Trang stepped in front of me.

"You made a promise." Trang whispered, "You cannot die on this baby."

I glared at her, "I want to leave, I don't want to stay here. I don't want to be someplace where I'm not loved, Trang, because all I need. . ." I couldn't get anymore words out, tears spilling over my cheeks, unable to get the next words out without choking, "I can't. . . can't stand the looks on their faces. . . they hate me, fine, but I can't stay here, looking at Dad's face. . . Harry's face. . ."

Trang said over my shoulder, "She'll do it if you treat her in her office Madam Pomfrey."

"Thank Merlin." Madam Pomfrey said. "Give Remus to Trang and I'll take you back."

"Remus?" I heard Dad whisper somewhere behind me.

"Don't let anyone hold him." I whispered under my breath protectively. "No one but you and Tonks."

Trang nodded and I handed Remus over and without looking at anyone else, I went with Madam Pomfrey into the office.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly, closing the door. More tears dripped over her cheeks. "I know you loved him. It wasn't fair. . . what Potter said I mean. . ."

"I tried to help Dumbledore. . ." I whispered, "But he wouldn't. . . he didn't. . ."

"I understand." Madam Pomfrey said.

"No one else seems to." I whispered as she had me undress so she could find the wound. I had burn marks on me and once the clothes were off- leaving me in undergarments- I could see that they'd been horribly burned and scorched. "Dad. . . he's looking at me like. . . like I killed Dumbledore myself. . ." More tears dripped down my face. "I can't stand that look. . . I'd rather die than disappoint him, you know?"

"It's the shock." Madam Pomfrey said in her professional voice and I was inclined to believe her. "Along with Potter, he just wants someone to blame. It's easiest to blame you because he sees that you're the one who could've prevented it. But you said you did try to prevent it. Just give them time."

"Time." I said bitterly. "I hate that word."

Madam Pomfrey worked in silence, having found that the blood was being caused from two different points of impact: the deep scratches on my back from Greyback's nails and a head wound that I didn't remember receiving.

"Do you think it's wrong. . ." I whispered hesitantly as she bandaged my head, "To still. . . to still love Severus. . . even though. . . even though. . ."

"No." Madam Pomfrey said softly, yet firmly. "Perhaps from someone who didn't observe your relationship, it appears bizarre, abnormal even as you two were Professor and student. But I did watch and you two. . . you two were quite. . . you two were meant for each other. I just don't know what went wrong."

It was strange. I rarely had anything to do with Madam Pomfrey unless I was hurt or interning under her- helping in the hospital wing. Yet, I was turning to her for advice. But really, she was the only one now that had seen everything between Sev and me. She was the only one who could give unbiased advice.

"He protected me during the battle." I whispered. "Even though he was supposed to be on their side. Greyback was on me, he was going to bite me, and Severus. . . Severus blasted him. I don't think Greyback knew it was him, but it was, I saw it."

"He loves you." Madam Pomfrey said, dabbing an orange cream over several burn wounds. I looked much worse than it had felt. (Though now of course, seeing the damage seemed to make them hurt). "He still loves you."

I nodded, tears falling fast and thick. "I wish someone else understood."

"Elizabeth?" Tonks voice at the door. "Professor McGonagall wants you to join her and the others up in the Headmasters room if you are up to it."

"Yeah, sure." I said, wiping tears away. Madam Pomfrey let me up from the table and hurried through the door, passing Tonks quickly. I avoided looking at the others and approached Trang who was still holding Remus. "I'll be back quickly. Just look after him, okay?"

"Of course." Trang whispered and I touched Remus' cheek gently and then hurried out of the hospital wing, making my way up to the Headmaster's office.

I knocked.

"Come in." Professor McGonagall's voice said.

I entered, avoiding Harry's gaze and going to hide somewhat behind Professor Sprout.

"Elizabeth, we were just talking about whether the school should be re-opened or not next year. Professor Sprout believes we should and so does Hagrid. Professor Slughorn and I believe differently and Professor Flitwick believes we should simply consult the Governors. I want to know if you have any insight into the schools future."

"You trust-" Harry started.

Professor McGonagall cut him off quickly, "Thank you Potter, but yes, I completely and fully trust Elizabeth's visions. Elizabeth?"

"It doesn't matter what you guys want." I said quietly. "Voldemort will take over the school. Every magical student will be forced to come or pay the price. Amycus and Alecto will be the new teachers of Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"But we have a Muggle Studies Professor!" Professor Sprout protested, "Why would we need a new one."

I opened my mouth and said, "Because Voldemort. . . well I don't know how. . . but he's going to get her hands on Professor Burbage and kill her. I think Alecto takes over the class. There will be. . . new punishments to say the least. You will have to report misbehaving's to the Carrows. Punishments include the Cruciatus Curse and a variety of Filch's favorites."

Professor McGonagall closed her eyes in horror. "I can't believe this. . ."

"Oh Merlin's Beard." Slughorn said, wiping his face with a napkin.

"All of you, as far as I see, will be teaching." I said, looking around at all of them, "And of course, none of you will actually report findings if you can keep from doing so. Most of the students will end up retreating to the Room of Requirement, going into hiding."

"Thank you Elizabeth." Professor McGonagall said, wiping her eyes again, "While I'm not happy with the news you bring, it's better than not knowing at all."

"I disagree." I said quietly, "I think life would be easier if I didn't know anything at all."

"Elizabeth. . ." Harry started, "I- I'm sorry, what I said-"

"It doesn't matter." I said stiffly. "The damage is done."

"Damage?" Professor McGonagall asked with a frown.

I scoffed and motioned wildly towards the door as though Dad was behind it, "You saw Lupin's face! You think I'm moving back in with that look? It's like I killed Dumbledore myself and he obviously hates me for it!"

"I don't believe that to be true." Professor McGonagall said, though she didn't sound sure at all, "And even if he did, I will talk to him-"

"No." I said shortly. "He shouldn't feel like he's supposed to still act like he loves me if he doesn't want to anymore. Trang and I can find an apartment or a house to rent or buy. It doesn't matter, I've always been quite self-sufficient."

Professor McGonagall opened her mouth as though to argue, but then turned to the other confused Professors and said instead, "Now, as to getting students home. . . there is an argument for doing it sooner rather than later. We could arrange for the Hogwarts Express to come tomorrow if necessary-"

"What about Dumbledore's funeral?" Harry asked.

"Well. . . I- I know it was Dumbledore's wish to be laid to rest here, at Hogwarts-" Professor McGonagall started.

"Then that's what'll happen, isn't it?" Harry said fiercely.

"If the Ministry thinks it appropriate. No other headmaster or headmistresses has ever been-"

"No other headmaster or headmistress ever gave more to this school." Hagrid growled.

"Hogwarts should be Dumbledore's final resting place." Professor Flitwick agreed. He had a large lump on his head but was otherwise fine.

"Absolutely." Professor Sprout agreed.

"Screw the Ministry." I said with a shrug, "Dumbledore's being buried at Hogwarts."

"And in that case," Harry said, for the first time not reacting angrily to something I said, "you shouldn't send the students home until the funeral's over. They'll want to say-"

"Good-bye." Professor Sprout finished.

"Well said! Well said indeed! Our students should pay tribute, it is fitting. We can arrange transport afterward." Professor Flitwick squeaked.

"Seconded." Professor Sprout barked, a sign that she would soon start to cry if not given time alone.

"I suppose. . . yes. . ." Professor Slughorn said.

Hagrid sobbed.

"He's coming." Professor McGonagall said, looking out the window, "The Minister. . . and by the looks of it, he's brought a delegation. . ."

"Can I leave, Professor?" Harry and I asked at the same time.

"You may and quickly." Professor McGonagall said.

Harry and I walked briskly down the steps and down the hallway. I went to turn down a hallway, wanting to see the Hufflepuffs before I went back to the hospital wing.

"Elizabeth." Harry said and I stopped walking but did not turn around to look at him, "I really am, sorry, I-"

"Needed someone to blame?" I asked in a whisper, "I hope it was worth it." I walked on, leaving Harry to either stand there or walk on.

I entered the Hufflepuff common room. Every student was out of bed, sitting there in either pajamas or robes.

"Is it true?" Susan asked in a hushed voice as I stood there. "Dumbledore, I mean?"

"Yes." I said in a hoarse whisper and cleared my throat, "Yes, Dumbledore is. . . is dead. . . the funeral is in a few days, everyone's invited to intend though many parents will pull their kids out before then." My eyes landed on Zacharias as I said this and they flitted away. "Of course, you can fight your parents decisions if you want to pay your respects."

I turned to walk back out of the portrait and Ernie asked, "Where are you going?"

"Hospital wing." I said, turning back around and giving him a small smile, "Madam Pomfrey wants me back but I came to. . . to let everyone know so they can get some rest."

Then I walked out the door, leaving them all there to stay or to sleep.

⬅️➡️

[braveclementine]

Chapter 21

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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𝕴 𝖜𝖔𝖐𝖊 𝖚𝖕 early, fed Remus, changed his diaper and clothes and then left him with Severus while I hurried out of the room, dressing myself in the process and hurried down the stairs towards the Hufflepuff Common room.

Susan was just waking up as I entered the dorm and she quickly woke Hannah and they dressed at top speed.

Something kept twisting in my stomach, something I couldn't particularly pinpoint. Perhaps nerves was the right word.

I carried the drawing in my arms. It stuck out nearly eight feet in both directions, making it a great way to keep people away from me.

Most of the Hufflepuff house was already up and they made room for me so that we could get it out the door. We hurried up towards the Great Hall where breakfast was only just starting.

For some reason, I got pushed to the front of the line and so, holding the drawing in my arms, I walked through the door and found that the three House tables were already full. There wasn't a single Hufflepuff though, it seemed as though they were all behind me.

My cheeks were bright red as we walked up the two center tables. To my surprise, the other students- including the Slytherins- started to join us, adding to my embarrassment. The teacher's faces looked apprehensive except for Dumbledore's. He was smiling.

I was thinking random things including, 'Is this to weird of a gift' or 'perhaps they'll hate it'. But before I could even think of changing my mind, I was already walking up the steps and presenting the large rolled up drawing to Professor Dumbledore.

"This is a present, for. . . for all of you." I barely whispered. Dumbledore took it from my hands and unrolled it and then with a wave of his wand, it attached itself to the wall behind the teachers. All of the teachers turned to look at it.

I had been wrong. Even in my eyes, the drawing was perfect.

Dumbledore turned back to me and winked and said, "Thank you, everyone."

There were cheers and whooping and other noises of happiness (even from the Slytherins) and everyone went back to the tables and the strangest thing happened. Everyone sat at random tables with random people. It was disorienting. I went to a table I'd never sat at-the Slytherin table- with Harry and Hermione and Ron, my Hufflepuff friends, and Trang. Other Slytherins sat around us, some I knew like Pansy and others I didn't know.

Hermione leaned over and whispered to me, "I think you did it, Elizabeth, I think you might've achieved house unity."

Had I? Would that change the future? Would that make Draco call off the attack?

I glanced down the table where Draco was sitting alone, staring down at his breakfast bowl, seemingly unaware of the talk going on around him. He looked up and our eyes met and I gave the slightest nod and then turned back to the others.

I looked up at the table. Many of the Professors were out of their seats, trying to get a better look at the drawing that I had drew. It covered most of the length of the wall, though not all of it. The Professors were pointing and motioning. The only people who were not standing were Dumbledore, Severus, and Firenze.

Firenze lifted his glass to me before drinking. I wondered what he was drinking, and if he would have drunk it in the forest, and what he was drinking to. I smiled, regardless.

I would've loved to have stayed and chatted all day, but I wanted to get back to Remus. I stood, leaving with Trang because that way, others wouldn't follow. There were cheers and people stood up to congratulate me on something that I really didn't need congratulating on. I wondered for a moment, why people thought this was such a big deal, why people seemed to be acting as though this was the last day of school, why people seemed to think that today was a party day or something.

Perhaps it was because I knew what was going to happen in three days. Maybe, if I couldn't see the future, I would've been able to understand other peoples' attitudes. But I couldn't and maybe I never would.

"They're quite excited aren't they?" Trang asked once we reached the peace and quiet of Severus' office.

"Yes." I said. "I'm not sure I understand it."

"From what I understand." Trang said slowly, "There's never been a gift for the teachers before. You kind've made history which means that every name written on that drawing is history."

"I should put protection spells on it." I mumbled, "So it doesn't get ruined during the attack."

"Good idea." Trang said in a downcast voice. She didn't want to talk about the attack because I wasn't allowing her to participate in it which she thought was stupid.

She rocked Remus in her arms and I said, "I would let you fight, you know. I just don't think you've learned enough."

"No." Trang said, "I haven't, your right. I just wish I could do something."

"But you can." I said softly.

Trang looked at me, her arms going still.

"You can stay with Remus." I said softly. "In Madam Pomfrey's office because Hermione and Luna will be staking out Severus' office during the attack. I'll meet you in there after the attack."

"Okay." Trang said, swallowing hard, "It feels. . . it feels like the world is ending in a way."

"Yes." I said softly, "But it isn't. I mean, we're all going to go home in one piece. Physically anyway, though our hearts may be broken. But there'll be two weddings. Dad and Tonks and then Bill and Fleur. You'll be invited to both, mark my word."

Trang smiled, "That's good."

I smiled too. "Dad and Tonks are going to have a baby, you know?"

"Really?" Trang asked softly.

I nodded, "Teddy Lupin. They'll name him after Tonk's dad."

"That's nice." Trang said with a smile. I hadn't told her that Dad and Tonks died only a few months later. She didn't need to carry my worry and pain and secrets and so I smiled too and prayed that my plans were going to work.

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"𝕳𝖊𝖞 𝕳𝖊𝖗𝖒𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖊." 𝕴 said, joining her in the library though my talk was only going to be brief. She was sitting at a table going through a stack of old Daily Prophet articles.

"Elizabeth." Hermione said, sounding distracted, "What's up?"

"What are some good protection spells to put on the drawing in the Great Hall?" I asked in what I hoped was a causal voice, "Long lasting ones."

Hermione thought carefully for a moment and then grabbed a piece of parchment and started to speed write. I watched her apprehensively, not sure if the words were for her own lead on whatever she was researching, or for me. Then, she handed me the piece of parchment.

"Thanks." I said, pocketing the parchment and then hurried down the steps and around a few corners and entered the Great Hall. It was between lunch and dinner so there was next to no one in the room except for a pocket of four-year Ravenclaws discussing a Transfiguration assignment.

I stopped in front of the drawing and pulled out the list Hermione had written for me. There was the imperturbable charm and the Protego Maxima charm amongst some others but those were the only two I needed. I cast the spells nonverbally, feeling strange. Dumbledore was going to die tomorrow.

I looked at the drawing for a long time, looking mostly at Dumbledore's face and then my eyes moved to Uncle Moody. I should've made him smile. I would've liked to have seen him smile again. Maybe I could get him to smile before he died.

Tears fell down my face and I wiped them away quickly.

I went back to Severus, feeling sick with worry. I probably felt as sick as Draco did, lying in bed, eyes open, everyone else in the dorm (or in this case Severus and miraculously Remus), trying to foresee what was going to happen tomorrow.

I wondered how many students would show up to fight. I wondered if it would be only students from D.A. or if other students would overhear and try to fight.

But more importantly and the thing that sickened me most was wondering if I was going to have someone killed. I had gotten people involved that would not have been involved originally and just because they'd drank a little Felix Felicis didn't mean they couldn't get hurt.

I woke Severus up.

"Whaswong?" He mumbled sleepily and I bent down to kiss him. He woke up slowly, kissing me back and then asked more clearly, "What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath and said, "Tonight's our last night together for. . . for a while."

He understood what I meant immediately. Our clothes were off in seconds, our bodies tangled in minutes. We'd never moved so carelessly, so fast before. I wondered if maybe we'd have a second child, if we could have a second child before he died. I wondered if our son would ever retain memories of Severus and I wondered how I was going to be able to live with his death if I couldn't save him.

But I didn't share these thoughts tonight. Oh no, tonight was the two of us and our bodies and our love and all of the other emotions that fit in with marriage. We'd probably both be really sore tomorrow and it was going to be completely worth it.

I gripped him with some strength hidden inside of me and he did the same. There was a small pain in my head as his hands buried themselves into my hair, clutching. My nails dug into his back. Our lips clashed along with the movement of our bodies. It was different than any other time. Tonight was bittersweet.

The next morning, we were both subdued.

Severus hands shook as he held Remus, rocking back and forth and holding him in his arms. I watched, feeling depressed. I'd never seen Severus' hands shake. Not when he'd saved me in my fourth-year, or when I got brought back from the Ministry in my fifth-year. He was always so calm, making sure that I was the one that was alright. But now, his hands shook badly, trying to get a grip on himself so he didn't drop his son.

"I'll be back." I whispered as evening approached. Neither of us had left all day, taking turns holding Remus while the other ate. "I just have to find out when I need to bring Remus to Trang, okay?"

Severus simply nodded, taking Remus from my arms and kissing his forehead, bouncing him gently and rocking back and forth.

I left so I was determined not to cry and made my way to the Gryffindor common room. Trang was already there and I gave the password and we went in. Harry and Ron were sitting on a couch by the fireplace. Harry was staring out the window and Ron was working on his Herbology homework.

"Hey!" I said as brightly as could be managed in my state.

"Hey." Ron said without looking up, "You wouldn't happen to want to tell me how many properties Roses have?"

"30." I said, sitting down in an armchair nearby, "Would you like me to list out all the properties?"

"Umm. . ." Ron said, scratching his head with a quill. "Yes, at least until I stay stop that is."

I took a deep breath and said, "eye diseases, cataracts, burns, influenza, stomach problems, diarrhea, chronic finger sores, snow blindness, sore throats, nosebleeds, kidney stones, headaches, coughing, colds, dry skin, grief, stress and anxiety, scurvy, fevers, puffy skin, blood thinning, acne, muscle pain, depression, menstrual issues, inflammation, constipation, colic, insomnia, and viral and bacterial infections."

Ron stared at me, "Is there anything roses don't help with?"

"Cancer?"

Ron snorted.

I felt better, having recited something off the top of my head. Reciting facts had always calmed me down in the past.

Hermione came into the Gryffindor common room at that moment and made room between Harry and Ron and stared at Harry with a purposeful look on her face, "I want to talk to you, Harry."

"What about?" Harry asked, drawing his attention from the window.

"The so-called Half-Blood Prince." Hermione demanded and I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, not again. Will you please drop it?" Harry groaned.

"I'm no dropping it until you've heard me out. Now, I've been trying to find out a bit about who might make a hobby of inventing Dark spells-"

"He didn't make a hobby of it-"

"He, he- who says it's a he?"

"We've been through this. Prince, Hermione, Prince!" Harry said in a cross voice, starting to get annoyed.

Red patches appeared on Hermione's cheeks and she threw down a piece of newspaper from her pocket and slammed it down on the table, "Right! Look at that! Look at the picture!"

I saw that it was Eileen Prince, Severus mother, and I moved uncomfortably in my seat. The girl had long black skin and she had heavy brows and a pallid face. Her nose was long and she was no beauty. She looked quite unhappy. The caption of the newsprint read that she was the Captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team. I wondered if Severus ever liked playing with gobstones.

"So?" Harry asked, putting the newspaper clipping back down on the table.

"Her name was Eileen Prince. Prince, Harry."

Harry and Hermione stared at each other for a short minute and then Harry burst into laughter and said, "No way."

"What?"

"You think she was the Half-Blood. . .? Oh, come on." Harry said, grinning.

"Well, why not? Harry, there aren't any real princes in the Wizarding world! It's either a nickname, or made-up title somebody's given themselves, or it could be their actual name, couldn't it? No, listen!" Hermione said as Harry scoffed, "If, say, her father was a wizard whose surname was Prince, and her mother was a Muggle, then that would make her a 'half-blood Prince'!"

"Yeah, very ingenious, Hermione. . ." Harry said in a patronizing voice.

"But it would! Maybe she was proud of being half a Prince!"

"It would make sense." I interjected. "Pure-bloods consider themselves royalty, don't they? So maybe she considers a Half-blood as being a prince, a step down from being a King."

Hermione seemed to think I had a valid point but Harry said, "Listen, Hermione, Liz, I can tell it's not a girl. I can just tell."

"The truth is that you don't think a girl would have been clever enough." Hermione said in an angry voice.

Harry looked stunned and protested, "How can I have hung round with you two for five years and not think girls are clever? It's the way he writes, I just know the Prince was a bloke, I can tell. This girl hasn't got anything to do with it. Where did you get this anyway?"

"The library. There's a whole collection of old Prophets up there. Well, I'm going to find out more about Eileen Prince if I can."

"Enjoy yourself." Harry said, his irritability back.

Hermione stood up, "I will. And the first place I'll look is records of old Potions awards!" She stormed out of the portrait hole and Harry scowled after her before returning his gaze to the night sky.

"She's just never got over you outperforming her in Potions." Ron said unexpectedly.

"Liz has always outshone her in everything." Harry grumbled, "You don't think I'm mad, wanting that book back, do you?"

"First off," I interjected, "I am not better than her in everything! Though, admittedly, I will claim flying."

"Your O.W.L.s say otherwise." Ron pointed out and I glared at him. "Fine." Ron threw his hands up, "You're completely stupid, happy?"

I cracked a reluctant smile and Ron turned to Harry, "Nah, your not crazy wanting the book back. He was a genius, the Prince. Anyway. . . without his bezoar tip. . ." He drew a line across his throat imitating death. Trang moved anxiously beside me. "I wouldn't be here to discuss it, would I? I mean, I'm not saying that spell you used on Malfoy was great-"

"Nor am I." Harry said quickly, shooting me a look.

"But he healed all right, didn't he? Back on his feet in no time."

"Yeah, Thanks to Snape. . ."

"You still got detention with Snape this Saturday?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, and the Saturday after that, and the Saturday after that. And he's hinting now that if I don't get all the boxes done by the end of term, we'll carry on next year."

"Don't you think it's a bit unfair?" Trang interjected. "You get detention for almost killing Draco but Draco doesn't get detention for almost killing Lizzy?"

"Yeah." Ron said, "but since when has Snape ever been fair with Slytherins and Harry?"

But Trang, Harry, and I exchanged a glance. Severus had been furious with Draco for hurting me, yes, but he couldn't act on it.

"I think he would have." I said slowly. "If it wasn't for the Unbreakable vow that he had made with Draco's mother."

"Nah." Ron said, scratching out something on his homework. "Snape's evil, he wouldn't have done anything."

One of Harry's beaters from the Quidditch team came over, holding out a roll of parchment and both Trang and I stiffened as Harry took it, "Thanks, Jimmy. . . Hey, it's from Dumbledore!" Harry unrolled it and sped read it and looked up and said, "He wants me to go to his office as quick as I can!"

"Blimey." Ron whispered, "You don't reckon. . . he hasn't found. . .?"

"He has." I said, voice nearly choking in my throat.

Harry jumped to his feet and left the room. Trang stood too and I shook my head just the slightest and she sat back down.

Ron continued working on his homework, mostly in silence though he asked the occasional question. I had picked up a book to pretend to read though my stomach was now churning. Perhaps I was going to be sick. Trang looked sick.

The sun was starting to set. Hermione came back and asked where Harry was. Ron excitedly told her that Dumbledore might've found a horcrux but Hermione was paying attention to Trang's face. As the hours had passed, she was finding it harder to keep a stoic expression.

"Are you alright Trang?"

"Yes." Trang's whisper was barely loud enough for me to hear. "Fine."

A few minutes later, Harry came hurrying into the common room and the four of us looked up. "What does he want?" Hermione asked immediately, "Harry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Harry said in a short voice, racing past us and up to the dorm. He came back downstairs shortly, breathing hard as though he had run a sprint. Perhaps he had. "I've got be quick. Dumbledore thinks I'm getting my Invisibility Cloak. Listen I'm going with Dumbledore to find a horcrux-"

"Where is it?" Ron asked.

"-and Malfoy was whooping in the Room of Requirement which means that he finished whatever he was supposed to have started. So you see what this-"

"But what does that have to do with us?" Hermione asked.

"-means? Dumbledore won't be here tonight, so Malfoy's going to have another clear shot at whatever he's up to. No, listen to me! I know it was Malfoy celebrating in the Room of Requirement. Here-" Harry shoved the Marauder's Map at me. Stunned, I took it. "You've got to watch him and you've got to watch Snape too. Use anyone else who you can rustle up from the D.A., Hermione, those contract Galleons will still work, right? Dumbledore says he's put extra protection in the school, but if Snape's involved, he'll know what Dumbledore's protection is, and how to avoid it- but he won't be expecting you lot to be on the watch, will he?"

Harry's eyes were searching mine, trying to figure out if I was going to betray his trust. I gave the tiniest of nods.

"Harry-" Hermione began.

"I haven't got time to argue." Harry said, thrusting Ron a pair of socks saying, "Take this as well."

"Thanks. Er- why do I need socks?"

"You need what's wrapped in them, it's the Felix Felicis. Share it between yourselves and Ginny too. Say good-bye to her for me. I'd better go, Dumbledore's waiting-"

"No!" Hermione said, "We don't want it, you take it, who knows what you're going to be facing?"

"I'll be fine, I'll be with Dumbledore. I want to know you lot are okay... Don't look at me like that, Hermione, I'll see you later..." Harry was gone, disappearing through the portrait hole.

I swallowed hard. "Get the D.A. coin. I will be back soon."

"You foresaw this?" Hermione whispered and I nodded.

"We should all be fine but I have. . . I have to do something first, alright." I handed over the map. "Keep on eye on Draco. I'll take care of Professor Snape."

Trang was on my heels as we dashed towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts office. Severus was inside, holding Remus tightly to his chest. Trang waited down in the classroom while I hurried towards him.

There were a few tears dripping down Severus' cheeks and I felt my heart wrench. "Don't. . ." I whispered softly, wiping them away, my own tears dropping down my cheeks, "Everything's going to be fine. . . alright?"

"I'm not going to see him in a long time." Severus whispered. "Perhaps not ever."

I didn't tell him that he was right.

"Of course you will." I said, nearly choking on the lie. "Just a few months." Never. We kissed, a long deep kiss, tears running down both of our faces.

"I love you." Severus said gruffly, pulling me into a hug.

"I love you too." I whispered, tears dripping down his back and then I pulled away, wiping the tears away. "You'll stay in the room until Professor Flitwick comes to get you." I cleared my throat. "Hermione and Luna will be waiting outside the door. Harry told them to keep an eye on you."

Severus smiled bitterly. "Of course. Potter's thorough."

"You'll stun Flitwick and tell them he collapsed and for them to take care of them. Then you'll be able to make your way to the tower. . ." I hesitated, gripping his hand.

Severus and I didn't say another word, just staring into each other's eyes and then I picked Remus up in my arms and walked quickly out the door, closing the door gently behind me. I handed Remus over to Trang.

"Take care of him Trang." I choked out.

"Of course I will." Trang said gently. "You take care Lizzy. I'll kill you if you die."

I laughed, hiccupped, and headed back up to the Gryffindor Tower. Ron and Hermione were up there. Ginny and Neville were with them too. Dean and Seamus were hurrying down from the boy's dorm.

"Eliza what do you suggest we do?" Hermione asked immediately. She had the D.A. coin in her hand. Parvati and Lavender came through the portrait hole joining us.

"From what I saw." I said slowly, taking careful command, "Ron, Neville, and Ginny went to the Room of Requirement to stake out Malfoy while Hermione and Luna went to watch guard over Professor Snape's room. I also think we should move this conversation somewhere else, where others like Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws can join in on the discussion."

We left the Gryffindor Tower, moving our way to the Great Hall. Ernie, Susan, Justin, and Hannah came tearing up the hallway. I was not terribly surprised, though disappointed, to see that Zacharias was not with them.

"Zacharias?" I asked out of the corner of my mouth to Ernie. He simply shook his head, looking a bit disgusted.

"Harry wanted us to divide this between the fighters." Hermione said, holding up the half-bottle of Felix Felicis, "But there's no way that we can all-"

"Don't worry." I said, "I took care of that." I motioned to the Ernie who took the two bottles out of his pocket. Katie Bell from Gryffindor joined us, her D.A. coin in her hand. Moments later, a group of Ravenclaws joined us.

"We already drank the luck potion." Padma said, going to stand next to Parvati. Anthony handed over the extra vials and I handed it to Dean who drank some, and it got passed around.

"I don't know whether we're all here or not." I said, taking a swig myself. "There's no point, considering there's so many of us, to all go and wait outside of Professor Snape's office or the Room of Requirement. I suggest the the groups I mentioned before go, each taking an extra member I didn't mention before, while the rest of us patrol the corridors around the Astronomy tower and Great hall."

"Alright." Hermione said nervously. "Luna and Hannah can come with me."

Ron looked between Neville and Ginny. "Er- Seamus, you want to come with us?"

Seamus nodded. The two groups went off in their respective directions while the rest of the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors looked at me.

"Alright, we need two equal groups down here and around the astronomy tower." I said, thinking hard. "Ernie, Susan, you're definitely with me. Justin you stay here." I looked at the others, thinking, "The rest of you can divvy yourselves up between the two groups."

Ernie, Susan, and I stood to one side while the others divided themselves up as asked.

"Alright." I said, noticing that I had Anthony, Padma, Terry, Lavender, Katie, and Leanne- who I hadn't noticed- had joined us.

We took off to the astronomy tower, letting the others station themselves throughout the Great Hall and lower floor, waiting.

We waited too, pacing back and forth, keeping guard around the corners. The time ticked by, twenty minutes, thirty minutes, forty-five. Every minute that passed added more strain to our nerves. Our ears picked up every little sound. An hour passed. Then five minutes past an hour there were running footsteps.

Our wands were up immediately, everyone was near the middle of the hallway. Ernie was peering round the corner and hurried back towards us, "They're coming, quite a few of them too."

My stomach nerves were horrid but I raised my wand, trying to push all fear away. "Get ready then." I said as the footsteps grew nearer and nearer. There were shouts and then they turned the corner.

Some of them faltered, obviously not expecting us and we threw our spells immediately, not giving them the chance to attack first.

Some spells hit, throwing Death Eaters backwards. The others, on the other hand, drew their wands and started to attack too. Ernie was on one side of me and Katie was on the other. The Death Eaters drew nearer, our spells were thrown quicker and faster. A full on battle had engaged.

We got separated, sometimes fighting with a Death Eater next to us. There were more footsteps running down the hall and I jumped and rolled, dodging a killing spell out of nowhere. I supposed it could only be the potion.

Greyback took up fighting me, his smile easy, his pointed teeth gleaming. The footsteps I had heard could no longer be heard, and I wondered if I had made them up.

Then Dad, Bill, and Tonks came tearing around the corner. I dodged as Greyback lunged at me and started the duel up all over again as he tried over and over to stun me. Dad came tearing towards us, Bill on his heels.

I could hear Bellatrix laughing somewhere and I wondered who she was dueling. I saw one of the Death Eaters moving up the astronomy staircase, and I ducked another of Greyback's spells and then dove to the side, ducking behind Anthony, turning into a black cat, and hurried up the stairs after the Death Eater.

I crept into the shadows, watching as the Death Eater fired the Dark Mark into the sky. I knew he'd be killed upon exiting the room and so I let him go without killing him myself.

I stayed in the shadows, knowing that Harry and Dumbledore would arrive any moment now. One minute, three minutes, six minutes and here came two brooms, landing. Dumbledore dismounted first, a second broom with an invisible rider landed next to him. I drew further back into the shadows.

"What does it mean?" Harry asked, noticing there was no dead body in the tower. "Is it the real Mark? Has someone definitely been- Professor?"

Professor Dumbledore was clutching at his chest. In a weak voice, Dumbledore said, "Go and wake Severus. Tell him what has happened and bring him to me. Do nothing else, speak to nobody else, and do not remove your cloak. I shall wait here."

"But-"

"You swore to obey me, Harry- go!"

There were steps towards the door and then there were running steps on the other side, running up towards us.

"Expelliarmus!"

Dumbledore's wand flew from his hand. "Good evening, Draco."

"Who else is here?" Draco asked, looking around suspiciously. My hindquarters were pressed up as far back as I could go.

"A question I might ask you. Or are you acting alone?"

"No, I've got backup. There are Death Eaters here in your school tonight."

"Well, well, very good indeed. You found a way to let them in, did you?"

"Yeah, right under your nose and you never realized!" Malfoy panted.

"Well Miss Kane did alert me a few days prior, but I was inclined to disagree. But ingenious, yet, forgive me, where are they now? You seem unsupported."

"They met some of your guards and some kids. They're having a fight down below. They won't be long. . . I came on ahead. I- I've got a job to do."

"Well, then, you must get on and do it, my dear boy." Professor Dumbledore said calmly. It was like watching a horrible movie.

After a long moment where Draco did not attempt to kill Dumbledore, Dumbledore said, "Draco, Draco, you are not a killer."

"How do you know?" Malfoy asked childishly. "You don't know what I'm capable of, you don't know what I've done!"

"Oh yes, I do. You almost killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. You have been trying, with increasing desperation, to kill me all year. Forgive me, Draco, but they have been feeble attempts. . . so feeble, to be honest, that I wonder whether you hear has really be in it."

"It has been in it! I've been working on it all year, and tonight-"

There was a loud yell, a man's yell. Who's was it? Terrys? Ernies? Rons? Nevilles? Seamus? Dads? Bills? Malfoy glanced over his shoulder.

"Somebody is putting up a good fight. But you were saying.. yes, you have managed to introduce Death Eaters into my school, which, I admit, I thought impossible, one of the reasons I did not believe Miss Kane. . . How did you do it?"

Malfoy did not answer.

"Perhaps you ought to get on with the job alone. What if your backup has been thwarted by my guard? As you have perhaps realized, there are members of the Order of the Phoenix here tonight too. And after all, you don't really need help. . . I have no wand at the moment. . . I cannot defend myself."

Malfoy did not answer, merely gazing at him.

"I see, you are afraid to act until they join you."

Was Dumbledore trying to goad him?

"I'm not afraid! It's you who would be scared!"

"But why? I don't think you will kill me, Draco. Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe. . . So tell me, while we wait for you friends. . . how did you smuggle them in here? It seems to have taken you a long time to work out how to do it."

Malfoy looked like he might throw up. I figured he would not answer again but instead he replied, "I had to mend that broken Vanishing Cabinet that no one's used in years. The one Montague got lost in last year."

"Aaah." Dumbledore meant to sigh but it came out more like a groan. "that was clever. . . There is a pair, I take it?"

"In Borgin and Burkes and they make a kind of passage between them. Montague told me that when he was stuck in the Hogwarts one, he was trapped in limbo but sometimes he could hear what was going on at school, and sometimes what was going on in the shop, as if the cabinet was traveling between them, but he couldn't make anyone hear him. . . In the end, he managed to Apparate out, even though he'd never passed his test. He nearly died doing it. Everyone thought it was a really good story, but I was the only one who realized what it meant- even Borgin didn't know- I was the one who realized there could be a way into Hogwarts through the cabinets if I fixed the broken one."

"Very good. So the Death Eaters were able to pass from Borgin and Burkes into the school to help you. . . A clever plan, a very clever plan.. and, as you say, right under my nose." Dumbledore said.

"Yeah, yeah it was!" Malfoy said and I realized that he was drawing courage and comfort from Dumbledore's high praise.

"But there were times weren't there, when you were not sure you would succeed in mending the cabinet? And you restored to crude and badly judged measures such as sending me a cursed necklace that was bound to reach the wrong hands. . . poisoning mead there was only the slightest chance I might drink. . ."

"Yeah, well, you still didn't realize who was behind that stuff, did you?" Malfoy sneered. I watched as Dumbledore slid down the ramparts just slightly.

"As a matter of fact, I did." Dumbledore said. "I was sure it was you."

"Why didn't you stop me, then?" Malfoy demanded.

"I tried, Draco. Professor Snape has been keeping watch over you on my orders-"

"He hasn't been doing your orders, he promised my mother-"

"Of course that is what he would tell you, Draco, but-"

"He's a double agent, you stupid old man, he isn't working for you, you just think he is!"

No, I thought. You're the stupid one Draco.

"We must agree to differ on that Draco. It so happens that I trust Professor Snape-"

"Well, you're losing your grip, then! He's been offering me plenty of help- wanting all the glory for himself- wanting a bit of the action- 'What are you doing?' 'Did you do the necklace, that was stupid, it could have blown everything-' But I haven't told him what I've been doing in the Room of Requirement, he's going to wake up tomorrow and it'll all be over and he won't be the Dark Lord's favorite anymore, he'll be nothing compared to me, nothing!"

"Very gratifying, we all like appreciation for our own hard work, of course. But you must have had an accomplice, all the same. . . someone in Hogsmeade, someone who was able to slip Katie the- the- aaah. . . of course. . . Rosmerta. How long has she been under the Imperius Curse?"

"Got there at last, have you?" Malfoy taunted. I was ready to jump out and claw him up but kept my cool, my tail twitching against the stone.

There was another yell from below, a louder one. I could only imagine someone getting hurt, someone I'd led into battle. Malfoy looked nervously over his shoulder again and Dumbledore continued to speak saying, "So poor Rosmerta was forced to lurk in her own bathroom and pass that necklace to any Hogwarts student who entered the room unaccompanied? And the poisoned mead. . . well, naturally, Rosmerta was able to poison it for you before she sent the bottle to Slughorn, believing that it was to be my Christmas present. . . Yes, very neat. . . very neat. . . Poor Mr. Filch would not, of course, think to check a bottle of Rosmerta's. Tell me, how have you been communicating with Rosmerta? I thought we had all methods of communication in and out of the school monitored."

"Enchanted coins." Malfoy said. He sounded how Barty Crouch Jr. had been under the Veritaserum. Compelled to answer. Compelled to tell the truth. "I had one and she had the other and I could send her messages-"

"Isn't that the secret method of communication the group that called themselves Dumbledore's Army used last year?" Dumbledore asked, slipping an inch lower on the wall.

"Yeah, I got the idea from them." Malfoy said with a twisted smile. "Kane is to smart for her own good. I got the idea of poisoning the mead from the Mudblood Granger as well, I heard her talking in the library about Filch not recognizing potions."

"Please do not use that offensive word in front of me." Dumbledore said politely.

Malfoy gave a laugh that was harsher than Greyback's. "You care about me saying 'Mudblood' when I'm about to kill you?"

"Yes I do." Dumbledore said, "But as for being about to kill me, Draco, well first, Miss Kane alerted me that you would not be the one to kill me and I'm determined to take her word on that. And for a second, you have had several long minutes now, we are quite alone, I am more defenseless than you can have dreamed of finding me, and still you have not acted. . ."

Malfoy's smile contorted into one of a person who had bitten involuntarily into a lemon. I wondered why Dumbledore kept mentioning me telling him who would kill him.

"Now, about tonight. I am a little puzzled about how it happened. . . you knew that I had left the school? But of course, Rosmerta saw me leaving, she tipped you off using your ingenious coins, I'm sure."

"That's right." Malfoy said. "But she said you were just going for a drink, you'd be back. . ."

"Well, I certainly did have a drink. . . and I cam back. . . after a fashion. So you decided to spring a trap on me?" Dumbledore mumbled.

"We decided to put the Dark Mark over the tower and get you to hurry up here and see who'd been killed, and it worked!" Malfoy exclaimed.

"Well. . . yes and no. . .but am I to take it, then, that nobody has been murdered?"

My back was starting to ache from being in such a cramped position. I angled my body carefully and laid down, my tail twitching.

"Someone's dead. One of your people." Draco's voice went up an octave. "I don't know who, it was dark. . . I stepped over the body. . . I was supposed to be waiting up here when you got back, only your Phoenix lot go in the way. . . and Kane seemed to have pulled quite a few students to meet us."

"Yes, they do that." Dumbledore said with a slight smile.

People were fighting on the staircase now, the shouts were louder. I wondered who was dead. If it was any of the students. . . it was my fault.

"There is little time, one way or another. So let us discuss your options, Draco." Dumbledore said, pulling Draco's attention back from the staircase.

"My options! I'm standing here with a wand- I'm about to kill you-"

"My dear boy, let us have no more pretense about that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first disarmed me, you would not have stopped for this pleasant chat about ways and means. Miss Kane told me the future, you do not kill me."

"I haven't got any options!" Malfoy said, turning sheet white. I wish Dumbledore would stop bringing up my name. What was the point of it? "I've got to do it! He'll kill me! He'll kill my whole family!"

"I appreciate the difficulty of your position. Why else do you think I have not confronted you before now? Because I knew that you would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort realized that I suspected you."

Malfoy flinched at the sound of Voldemort's name.

"I did not dare speak to you of the mission with which I knew you had been entrusted, in case he used Legilimency against you. But now at last," Dumbledore continued, "we can speak plainly to each other. . . No harm has been done, you have hurt nobody, though you are very lucky that your unintentional victims survived. . . I can help you, Draco."

"No, you can't." Malfoy said, his wand hand shaking terribly. I watched it with my cat eyes, almost wanting to jump on it. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."

"He cannot kill you if you are already dead." Dumbledore said logically. "Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Nobody would be surprised that you had died in your attempt to kill me- forgive me, but Lord Voldemort probably expects it. Nor would the Death Eaters be surprised that we had captured and killed your mother- it is what they would do themselves, after all. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban. . . went he time comes, we can protect him too. Come over to the right side, Draco. . . you are not a killer. . ."

But it did not matter and Dumbledore knew it was an empty promise. Severus would show up any moment now and kill him.

"But I got this far, didn't I?" Draco asked slowly, but I knew he was sincerely considering it. "They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here. . . and you're in my power. . . I'm the one with the wand. . . you're at my mercy. . ."

"No, Draco. It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now." Dumbledore said quietly.

The wand that was being held at Dumbledore's heart was dropped a few inches. Then there were footsteps thundering up the stairs and all suspense was gone.

"Dumbledore cornered!" A lumpy man with a twisted smile exclaimed.

His sister was beside him and was grinning, though her features were slightly more perfect and exclaimed, "Dumbledore wandless, Dumbledore alone! Well done, Draco, well done."

"Good evening, Amycus. And you've brought Alecto too. . . Charming. . ." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Think your little jokes'll help you on your deathbed then?" Alecto jeered with an angry titter.

My wand was between my paws. I could transform, kill all of them, let Draco decide about hiding. I could change the future, couldn't I?

"Jokes? No, no, these are manners." Dumbledore replied.

"Do it." A raspy voice from the shadows said. My cat instincts shivered. Fucking dog.

"Is that you, Fenrir?" Dumbledore asked.

"That's right, pleased to see me, Dumbledore?"

"No, I cannot say that I am."

Greyback grinned, blood trickled down his chin and he licked his lips, probably for show. "but you know how much I like kids, Dumbledore. Especially Lupin's daughter. . . but I'll bite her under a full moon."

"If Remus lets you live first." Dumbledore said coldly. "Am I to take it that you are attacking even without a full moon now? This is most unusual. . . you have developed a taste for human flesh that cannot be satisfied once a month?"

"That's right. Shocks you that, does it, Dumbledore? Frightens you?" Greyback leered. My tail twitched, all instincts telling me to take off down the stairs.

"Well, I cannot pretend it does not disgust me a little. And yes, I am a little shocked that Draco here invited you, of all people, into the school where his friends live. . ."

"I didn't. I didn't know he was going to come-" Draco said.

"I wouldn't miss a trip to Hogwarts, Dumbledore. Not when there are throats to be ripped out. . . future-seers to kidnap and turn. . . delicious, delicious. . ."

My cat fur was standing up on end. Lavender's body flashed into my mind. I had to kill Greyback now. "I could do you for after's, Dumbledore."

"No." said the Death Eater that hadn't spoken yet. "We've got orders. Draco's got to do it. Now, Draco, and quickly."

Malfoy was looking more terrified than previously. Suspense was building up in the room. I couldn't even remember where Harry was standing.

"He's not long for this world anyway, if you ask me! Look at him- what's happened to you, then, Dumby?" Amycus said.

"Oh, weaker resistance, slower reflexes, Amycus." Dumbledore said. I wondered how he could stay so calm at a time like this. Was his heart pounding in his chest? Was there any fear in him at all? "Old age, in short. . . One day, perhaps, it will happen to you. . . if you are lucky. . ."

"What's that mean, then, what's that mean? Always the same, weren't yeh, Dumby, talking and doing nothing, nothing. I don't even know why the Dark Lord's bothering to kill yer! Come on, Draco, do it!"

"They've blocked the stairs-Reducto! REDUCTO!"

Was that dad's voice. One of my cat's ears twitched.

"Now, Draco, quickly!"

"I'll do it." Greyback said, moving toward Dumbledore with an outstretched hand. Dumbledore simply wrinkled his nose.

"I said no!" The fourth death eater whose name hadn't been revealed yet shouted, blasting Greyback into the ramparts. Greyback stood up, looking furious.

"Draco, do it or stand aside so one of us-" Alecto screeched but there were running footsteps up the stairs and Severus burst through the door.

Severus looked from the three Death Eaters, to the werewolf that was holding his arm, to Dumbledore leaning against the wall, and his eyes unwillingly flicked down, meeting my green ones and quickly snapped back to the Death Eaters before drawing notice to me.

"We've got a problem, Snape, the boy doesn't seem able-"

"Severus. . ."

I closed my eyes, tears spilling over somehow, matting into my black fur. It was a frightening sound, Dumbledore pleading.

Severus said nothing, walking forward, pushing Malfoy out of the way. The Death Eaters had fallen silent, even Greyback. Severus gazed at Dumbledore and I watched the silent conversation pass between their eyes. Severus still didn't want to do it.

"Severus. . . please. . ."

Severus raised his wand, his own eyes pleading, begging Dumbledore not to make him do this. Dumbledore shook his head the tiniest fraction, so tiny I bet I was the only one who picked it up. Severus seemed to pull in a big breath and said, "Avada Kedavra!"

Dumbledore fell backwards, over the battlements and out of sight.

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[braveclementine]

Chapter 20

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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𝕴 𝖕𝖆𝖈𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 room nervously, unsure of what was going to happen. I was tired, Remus didn't like sleep as much as Severus and I did. But that wasn't why I was pacing.

Susan, Ernie, Trang, Ginny, and Justin were all waiting with me, all of us unsure of whether or not the Slytherins were going to end up coming at all. They were already five minutes late.

"We'll give it a few more minutes." Susan said sadly, her enthusiasm that the four houses would participate was slowly diminishing.

We waited five more minutes and then Ernie got up from where he was sitting, "Let's face it, they aren't showing-"

The door opened and there was a seventh-year Slytherin that I didn't know coming through the room, other seventh-years following.

There was an awkward silence as the rest of the Slytherin house filed in. I caught sight of Pansy who nodded slightly when our eyes met, and there was Zabini, standing next to her, and a grumpy Draco behind them.

Ernie and I exchanged a glance and then I grabbed the container of green markers. The leading Seventh-year approached and grabbed a green writing utensil and turned to sign the paper. I saw the look of surprise appeared on his face, and he turned back to us.

"Who drew this?" He asked in a deep voice.

The other Hufflepuffs, Ginny, and Trang all turned to look at me and a slight flush appeared on my cheeks. "That would be me."

"The whole thing?" He asked, motioning to the drawing.

"Yes." I said.

We stared at each other for a moment, his eyes appraising and mine apprehensive. Without another word, he turned back to the drawing and signed.

That seemed to be the deal for everyone. They all lined up, moving through the line, pushing and shoving to get to the front. Three people signed at a time. Some, like the first seventh-year were surprised. Others simply signed and left.

It took about two and a half hours, shorter than the others but then again, the other houses had showered more praise on me. I think I preferred the Slytherin approach.

"That. . ." Trang said.

"-went better than expected?" Ernie finished for her.

"Yes." Ginny finished.

The finished drawing had all the Professors and now, signatures in Blue, Red, Gold, and Green. "It's great." I said with a smile. "We'll present it to the Professors on the last day of school."

"I hope they like it." Justin said fervently.

Susan scoffed, "Of course they will. It was our idea, Elizabeth drew it, and everyone from every house signed it. What's not to like?"

They all left, leaving me to roll up the drawing. I asked for a secret compartment to put it in so that no one (since everyone in the school minus Professors had been here) could come in and take it. It would only open at my touch.

The only thing I wished was different about the drawing were I wished for other signatures. I would've liked Fred, George, Oliver, Percy, Angelina, Alicia, Cedric, and other students that had been here to sign it as well. Perhaps I could eventually get signatures. Just not before we presented it to the Professors.

I left the room. I walked down the hall, hurrying towards where Severus and I were staying. I slipped in through the door, hurrying upstairs.

Severus was in the office, holding Remus in one arm, grading homework at top speed with the other. I laughed a little and took Remus from his arms.

"Are you hungry?" I asked in that annoying voice that adults use with little kids. I couldn't help it, it kind've just slipped out.

I let him drink (Severus and I had agreed to breast-feeding as the best source of food for Remus) and held him by the window, looking out on the sunny grounds.

I murmured incoherent things under my breath to Remus. Words so soft, I could barely hear them, and Severus could not hear them, and Remus probably couldn't hear them, and even if he could, he wouldn't understand them.

He fell asleep in my arms and I held him for a long time, wishing I could be outside with him. But the students didn't know about Remus and they couldn't. I hoped they didn't find out for a while.

"The day's coming." Severus said and I looked over at him, knowing what he was talking about. He had abandoned the homework, leaning back in his chair carelessly, staring at me and Remus.

"Yes." I said quietly. "Soon."

The chair dropped down onto all fours and Severus stood, coming over to embrace the two of us. "We're going to be fine." He whispered.

"Yes." I agreed. "We will." I reached up to kiss him.

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"𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖎𝖓." 𝕬 tired voice said from behind the door and I pushed it open and stepped into Professor Dumbledore's room. "Elizabeth! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

It was a few days after the Slytherins had signed the artwork. I felt that this was a necessary thing to do.

"I want to tell you something." I said, tears springing to my eyes, just thinking about it. I quickly took a deep breath, trying to forget what I had seen while also trying to conjure it up into my mind to tell Dumbledore. "I need to tell you something."

"Is something wrong?" Dumbledore asked, sounding slightly alarmed.

"Not yet." I said with a small smile, "But this will take some time."

Dumbledore gestured to the seat in front of his desk. Many of the portraits on the wall were awake, listening intently.

"I want to tell you about the future." I said in as firm a voice as possible. "Because you won't be able to interfere with it."

"Because Severus is going to kill me." Dumbledore acknowledged.

"Yes." I said.

"When will it happen?" Dumbledore asked.

I took in another deep breath. The conversation would go much faster if I didn't let my emotions get a hold of me. "Soon. The day that you find a horcrux which of course, is inside the cave that Tom Riddle brought those two children to. It's the locket, or so you believe. When you get back, Draco Malfoy will have let the Death Eaters into the school. He will tell you more about how he accomplished it at the top of the Astronomy tower. Severus will. . . Severus will come and. . ." I drifted off and Dumbledore nodded.

"But you want to tell me more than just my death, don't you?" Dumbledore said gently.

"Yes." I said, taking another deep breath. "It all just came crashing down an hour ago. I was in. . . in the Room of Requirement, I'll show you why momentarily because it's important."

"This was an hour ago?" Dumbledore asked curiously, folding his hands on the desk.

"Yes." I said. "I would have gotten here sooner, but I had something like a mental breakdown when I. . . when I saw everyone that died."

"I see."

"Harry accomplishes what you sent him to do." I said. "The locket, the real one, is found on Dolores Umbridge. Harry infiltrates the ministry and gets it. I'm not sure of all the fine details, this is the broad spectrum."

"Of course." Dumbledore said, motioning with his blackened hand, "continue."

I explain everything in great detail- taking Harry from his house, Uncle Moody's death, the wedding, Harry, Ron, and Hermione breaking into the Ministry, Ron leaving, Ron coming back, the trip to Lovegood's house, the Malfoy Manor, and then I paused before the battle of Hogwarts.

I open my eyes, gazing into Dumbledore's shining blue ones. Not shining because they are light, but shining because he is crying. It's much different than watching a man like Hagrid cry. Somehow, Dumbledore makes it almost beautiful, symbolic. "Who do we lose?"

I licked my lips, unable to get the names out and start with the names of the people that I'm slightly more okay with, "The fallen fifty, however I don't know all fifty, just some of the names. Colin Creevy." I can picture where he signed his name on the drawing- right underneath Mrs. Norris' tail. "Lavender Brown." She signed near Professor McGonagall's hat. I took another shuddering breath, "Fred Weasley." I opened my mouth and then closed it, unable to say anymore.

"Lupin." Dumbledore says it for me and I nod, tears leaking over my eyes and I wipe them away.

"And Tonks." I choke out. "And. . . and. . ."

"Severus." Dumbledore finishes for me again and I burst into tears, finally unable to hold them back.

"It's not fair." I whisper, "It's not fair at all! We just had a child. Dad and Tonks will have a child too!"

"You plan on trying to change their deaths, don't you?" Dumbledore asked. He never missed anything, did he.

I nodded, wiping underneath my eyes again. "Felix Felicis. I know it can only do so much but if they're luckier than their opponents. . ."

"It is a good plan." Dumbledore says softly. "How do Lupin, Tonks, and Severus die?"

"Bellatrix kills Tonks. Dolohov kills Dad, and Voldemort uses Nagini to kill Severus." I whispered, my voice nearly breaking again.

Dumbledore nodded, reaching out absentmindedly to pet Fawkes. "but Voldemort is ended?"

"Yes." I whisper. "Neville cuts Nagini's head off and Harry kills him."

"Alastor is a good man." Dumbledore muttered, almost to himself. I felt the tears spring up again, thinking of my sweet (though he rarely showed that side of him) Uncle. I didn't want to lose him. Could I stop his death?

There is silence. The portraits are not discussing this outcome yet, but are looking at each other. Dumbledore seemed to be thinking deep in thought.

"If I lived," Dumbledore started suddenly, "Do you think the future would change?"

I hesitated, "I think. . . I think it could be possible. The others. . . they would probably expect you to finish Voldemort as you are the only one he has ever feared. But. . . the curse on your hand. . . even if Severus did not kill you in a few days. . . it would still kill you before the battle. But when Severus kills you, it makes Voldemort put more faith in him."

"And yet Voldemort will still kill him?" Dumbledore asked. He seemed to be trying to figure something out, "And with the snake?"

"Yes." I said. "Because he will steal your wand from you. He thinks the reason the wand doesn't work for him is because Severus killed you and therefore, the wand belongs to Severus. However, it actually belongs to Draco because Draco will disarm you. Then the wand becomes Harry's when he disarms Draco at the Malfoy's Manor. That is why Harry is able to destroy Voldemort, because the wand that Voldemort tries to use on Harry really belongs to him."

"And Severus dies for nothing." Dumbledore whispered.

"I have a plan." I said desperately. "It's not well thought out yet but I'm working on it. I can use Runes for protection, carving them on Severus' neck and heart. This way, when the snake bites, it will bite farther from the heart, giving me just a little more time to heal him. Mr. Weasley was bitten by the same snake so if he tells me what the healer used. And a little Felix Felicis can't hurt, though I know it's ridiculous to think the luck potion will heal and-"

"It's a well thought out plan Miss Kane." Dumbledore said gently. "I will see if I can help you before I die."

"Thank you." I whispered.

There was a silence. Fawkes let out a quavering cry and Dumbledore straightened his glasses. "You said there was something you wanted to show me in the Room of Requirement?"

"Yes." I said, standing, "It won't take long, only a few minutes of your time."

Dumbledore smiled, "We've been here for a half hour, Elizabeth. You may take a few more minutes of my time."

He followed me out of his office and we went down the revolving stairs. He followed me up a few flights of stairs to the seventh-floor. I paced back and forth three times, imagining the art studio and then opening my eyes and wrenched the door open. Dumbledore followed me in.

"This is a marvelous studio Miss Kane." Dumbledore said, standing in the entry way while I went over to the lock container, putting my hand against the hiding place and the lid popped open. I pulled out the drawing, carrying it carefully over to the table and unrolled it, setting weights on either end to keep it open.

I reached into a bucket that stood on one of the many shelves with the art supplies and pulled out a black writing utensil.

"I want you to sign this." I said. "None of the teachers are supposed to sign it, it's supposed to be a gift for you guys for teaching, but since. . . well I thought it would be a nice gesture if you signed it."

Dumbledore was looking down at the art, smiling, "You captured everyone with great detail." He chuckled, "Kettleburn was always a bit, ah, enthusiastic about his work, no matter how many limbs he lost."

"The ones I met or only saw for a year were the harder ones." I admitted, "Especially Quirrell since I never had much to do with him. Dad and Uncle Moody were the easiest."

"They are quite realistic." Dumbledore said, tracing a finger lightly over Firenze's bow. "I'm quite regretful he will not be able to return to the forest."

"As am I." I said.

"I forgot, you were great friends with him in the forest."

"And out of it." I admitted. "I made friends with a few Centaurs but once they started getting possessive with the forest. . ."

Dumbledore took the black utensil from my hand gently and wrote his name in the same calligraphy I'd used for the funny portraits at the top of the page: Albus Dumbledore.

He put the sharpie back in a bucket and after observing the banner one last time said, "You should give this to the Professors sooner rather than later. I would like to see their faces when you give it to them."

With that, he walked from the room, leaving me there alone, remembering the first time the future flashed across my vision revealing that everyone I loved was going to die.

I collapsed to the floor, the visions of Dad and Tonks laying on palettes in the Great Hall dead swimming in front of my eyes. Their fingers were inches apart as though they had fallen that way. Their wands across their chests.

Severus was inside the Whomping Willow. Nagini lunged at his throat. His last words to Harry were, "you have her eyes."

Fred was standing in a hallway. It exploded as Acromantula burst into the castle. I wasn't sure yet if it was a spell or a flying brick that killed him.

Lavender Brown was lying on the ground, Fenrir Greyback on top of her, ripping her neck out.

Colin Creevy in Neville's arms being carried back up to the castle.

Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Kingsley were fighting three on one against Voldemort. Mrs. Weasley kills Bellatrix Lestrange, causing Voldemort to push the three of them back in a rage.

I sobbed into my hands, tears falling through my fingers and hitting the floor with tiny pings. Visions seemed to flash faster and faster through my eyes, so quickly there were only snatches of people's faces and places.

Dobby's wide green eyes and then-

Uncle Moody falling from a broom and then-

An electric blue eye underneath a brass nameplate that read Dolores Umbridge and then-

George was missing an ear-

Nagini was slithering-

Ollivander-

Rook-

Wand-

Doe-

Lake-

Sword-

Sword-

Sword-

"NO!" I screamed, getting up from the floor. I wiped the tears away and back, my hands running through my hair.

I was shaking and sobbing and shivering and sweating and hating myself and whoever had given me this horrible power of seeing the future. I'd always relied on it, always been glad of it. It had always given me an edge, something that I could hold over others, always one step ahead because I knew what was going to happen, what was going to be said, what should be said. I had never really hated it before.

Now I detested it. I would've given anything to not see these visions, to not see that I was going to lose literally everyone in one fight.

I'd already lost my parents and my godfather and a best friend. Now I was going to lose my second set of parents, my uncle, another best friend, and my husband. I was going to lose everyone in a few months.

I grabbed the back of a chair, sitting in it, trying to get a grip on myself before I went back out into the world.

"What about Trang?" I asked aloud. "What happens to her?"

I could not see Trang's future because Trang was linked to me. She was not a separate entity. Without me, she would not have discovered magic, she would not have been here. Because of me, I could not see her future for the future war.

I got to my feet shakily, wishing for a mirror, and one appeared. I stood in front of it. My entire face was pale except for my eyes were were pink around the edges, the corneas red. My hair was sticking out everywhere as though I'd been electrocuted. I was perhaps exactly what a mad woman in an old movie looked like.

I sighed, wishing for a brush and carefully brushed out my hair until it was smooth and silky, not a hair out of place. There was nothing I could do about the eyes except rest them and so, after I rolled up the drawing, I closed my eyes, imagining other things that had nothing to do with the future.

It took me a few hours to leave the room.

I walked with purpose towards the Hufflepuff common room. People saw me with the drawing tucked up under my arm, and pointed, whispers breaking out in excitement. I tried not to smile and then thought smiling might do me some good and so I smiled.

"We're going to give it to them tomorrow?" Susan asked in surprise. "I thought we were waiting until the last day of school?"

That was going to come sooner than expected.

"Yes." I said to the room of Hufflepuffs. "I have my reasons, mostly so that we can appreciate the art with enough time. I would rather the Professors be able to express their admiration or distaste for the drawing over a course of time rather than hurried exclamations of praise in a few hours because they're rushing us off to the train."

"Hear hear." Ernie said pompously. I could always count on Ernie.

I smiled at all of them, my heart heavy, and I went up to the girls' dorm. There was no drawer that was large enough to keep it in and so I put it on the other side of the wardrobe, propped up. It was very large and it nearly touched the ceiling which was quite a feat considering the ceiling nearly reached thirteen feet.

"Is something wrong?" Hannah asked more perceptibly when I had come down. Hannah, Susan, Ernie, Justin, Zacharias, and Rose were all waiting for me, to congratulate me.

I looked around, noticing that many Hufflepuffs were off in their own groups though a few were keen to listen in.

"Let's. . . go on a walk." I said brightly. "It's a nice day out."

They followed me, mixed looks of confusion and apprehension on all of their faces.

Once we were outside, we walked down to the lake. There was no one around and I quickly turned to them.

"What's happening?" Zacharias demanded.

"Death Eaters." I said.

Ernie and Susan's expressions stayed stoic though the others showed signs of horror.

"Originally." I said. "Hermione was going to send out the day that the Death Eaters attack by using the D.A. coins. Only Luna and Neville answered the call. But I thought, you know, if I told you guys ahead of time. If you guys want to fight-"

"I will." Susan said in a hard voice.

"We could be killed!" Justin said in a voice that almost sounded repulsed.

"Well they won't penetrate the Common rooms." I said, "So if you stay in your dorms you'll be fine. It's only if your out in the corridors. . .and besides, I have a way so that we don't get killed."

"How?" Zacharias asked skeptically, his face a little pale.

"Felix Felicis." I stated simply and then remembered that only Ernie was in my potions class. "It's a luck potion. If we all have some-"

"Then we'll be lucky and won't die." Ernie said. "Brilliant."

"I mean, you could die, you know?" I asked, smirking slightly. "If you jumped off the tower or something. It doesn't make you invincible. But it should give an edge so that you avoid being killed."

"So-" Rose started but I interrupted her.

"You, Rose, are staying in the dorm. You don't know enough yet to be in a real battle. I want you to stay in the common room."

Rose pouted, but said nothing.

"I just wanted to let you all know." I said gently. "If you have your D.A. coin, you'll know when they are going to attack."

"What about Dumbledore?" Justin asked desperately.

"He's been leaving the castle frequently." I said. "Tonks, Professor Lupin, and Bill Weasley will be part of the guard protecting the castle, including all the Professors. They won't have expected this. I already saw Dumbledore. He will take necessary precautions, but we can't think that the Death Eaters won't find a way in regardless."

"Alright." Ernie said.

"That's why you want to give the Professors the drawing tomorrow." Zacharias said. "Not because of all the crap you spewed in the common room."

I smirked, "You know me so well Zach."

He scowled, "Don't call me Zach."

"Anyways." I said, having no more information to tell them. "I thought you guys should know, no matter what path you guys decide to take." I slipped the two bottles of Felix Felicis from my pocket and handed it to Ernie. "This is in case I'm not there. They both have twenty-four hours worth inside of them. I wasn't sure how much would be needed. I wouldn't drink an excessive amount and I wouldn't drink it unless you plan on being at the fight. Save it for the fight, don't drink any before. Ernie, I'm entrusting you with this, okay?"

"Why?" Ernie asked surprised, but also took the bottles, holding them gingerly in his hands.

"Because," I said. "You're kind've like the leader in my book. And plus, if you aren't around, both Susan and Hannah can get into your room whereas boys can't get into girls' dorms. It's also more convenient if you have them."

"Practical." Ernie said with a nod.

There seemed almost a sort of pact that was surrounding us, including Rose though she was still pouting.

My throat seemed unusually tight. I knew the futures of Ernie and Susan and Hannah. I knew that Zacharias Smith would flee the battle of Hogwarts next year, pushing first-years out of the way to escape. I wondered how I could be friends with a person like that and yet, there was a fondness I had with him. I supposed that there was a part of people that didn't choose who they made friends with: it was all up to chance.

I did not know Roses' future and I did not know Justin's. For all I knew, they both would die next year. Justin being a muggle-born, of course, would definitely be on the kill list. Rose was a half-blood and young, but yet determined to fight. Just like Colin. My throat closed again.

"I just. . ." I said softly. "Not necessarily this year. . . but next year. . . no matter what happens. . . I am proud to call all of you my friends."

Ernie swallowed, putting his hand out and I put my hand over it. Susan and Hannah reached out, touching our hands and Rose's tinier hand joined ours. Zacharias hesitated while Justin reached a hesitant hand out. We did not wait long but Zacharias finally put his hand over Justin's. We all let go at the same time, heading back up to the castle in silence.

IT. That's what the circle outside reminded me of. The kids in IT had made a promise, they'd always come back to each other. Of course, there was no promise between us, but it felt something like that.

Of course, they'd also cut their hands open with a coke bottle and let their blood mix together. At least we hadn't done that.

Once inside the castle, we went out separate ways.

I found Trang sitting with Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil and Terry Boot and few other Ravenclaws.

"Hey Kane!" Anthony greeted me brightly. "What's up?"

I held out two bottles of Felix Felicis. "Do you guys know what this is?"

"Yeah," Terry said. "That's Felix Felicis. Did you get that from Slughorn?"

"No," I said, shaking my head to emphasize the word. "I brewed it myself."

The Ravenclaws looked around at each other, clearly impressed. Trang however, was gazing at me in a worried look.

"So. . ." Trang said slowly, "What are you giving us two bottles of luck potion?"

I hesitated, "I can't go into the details yet. . .but if you guys still have your D.A. coins, I would pay attention to those."

Smiles started to fade from the Ravenclaws faces.

"When you get that message, I would drink some of this, those of you who want to anyways."

"There's going to be an attack, isn't there?" Padma asked.

I hesitated and then said, "Something like that, yes, but if you don't want to fight, you can stay in the dorm. The attacks will only happen in the corridors." I held the bottles out to Anthony. He seemed to be the best candidate. He'd wanted to come to the Ministry last year. I was almost confident that he would fight. Or, we would find that all his talk last year had been just that- talk. He hesitated for a second and then reached out, and took them, pocketing them.

I got up and left the library. I felt lighter than I had before. I had one more potion that would go to the Gryffindors after I told them about the D.A. coins. Then I would have my own small potion that was back in my room with Severus.

"Elizabeth!" Trang's voice was sharp as she called down the hallway after me. I sighed, slightly unhappy with what was going to happen next.

"Hi. Trang." I said, not stopping as she caught up with me. I was making my way up to the Gryffindor Tower.

"You won't be participating in the fight, right?" Trang asked.

I stopped walking, "You won't be fighting either, right?"

We stared at each other, measuring each other.

"You have a child." Trang said.

"You don't know enough to fight." I said sharply. "Besides, that's what the Felix Felicis is for, luck. I won't get hurt when I drink it."

"And you're sure about that?" Trang asked skeptically.

"You should put more stock into magical potions." I said, walking again. Perhaps I would find a single Gryffindor and tell them to spread around the idea of D.A. coins. "Besides, what I can see, no one dies."

"Did you see everyone your enlisting in the fight?"

"No, because when Hermione used the D.A. coin, only Luna and Neville answered the call. That's why I made more Felix Felicis."

Trang sighed, "Is there anything I can say that will keep you from fighting and staying alive for Remus?"

I turned on her, angry. "Do you think this is easy, Trang? When I say no one is going to die, I mean, no one who fights. But Bill will be bitten by Greyback which will leave a scar and Dumbledore's going to die."

"Dumbledore's going to die?" Trang asked in horror.

I looked around carefully but the few people walking through the hallways were fifth-years worrying over their O.W.L. exams that I knew (but they didn't) were going to be canceled because Dumbledore was going to die.

"Severus kills him." I whispered.

"Oh my God, Elizabeth, I'm so sorry." Trang whispered.

"Dumbledore asked him to." I said.

Trang's sad face drew back into a puzzled one. "What?"

"Dumbledore called it a last act of loyalty."

"Dumbledore's crazy!"

"You can't tell anyone, it's imperative that they all think Severus betrayed us." I said glumly.

"I'm sorry." Trang said more sincerely. "That's got to be tough."

"Let's just hope that I don't spill that he was killing him on Dumbledore's word." I said sadly.

Seamus and Dean walked past us with Parvati and Lavender.

"Dean!" I called and the four of them turned.

"What's up Elizabeth?" Dean asked.

I couldn't bring myself to look at Lavender.

"Um, do you guys still have your D.A. coins?" I asked in a casual voice.

"Yeah." Parvati said.

"Somewhere." Seamus said with a shrug.

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Find them." I said. "And let anyone else from Gryffindor who was in the club know, but around our age or older, okay? And here, take this." I thrusted the bottle of Felix Felicis at Dean.

"What is this?" He asked.

"Felix Felicis." I said and I wondered how many more times I had to say those two words. "Luck potion."

The words seemed to mean different things to different people and it was Parvati who figured out what I meant.

"There's going to be an attack, isn't there?" She asked. She was just like her sister. "And Dumbledore isn't going to be able to stop it."

I nodded, "Dumbledore won't even be here. There'll be the teachers of course, and a few extra protectors, but not enough. I didn't originally see you all fighting, any of your for that matter, but that was only because you guys don't check your D.A. coins. Of course, Harry hasn't scheduled meetings so that's not your fault. Originally, it would only be Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville."

"Just like the Ministry." Lavender said but I tried blocking out her voice.

"Something like that, yes." I said.

"We'll find our coins." Dean promised.

"Thanks." I said with a half-hearted smile. "But-"

They turned back to face me.

"Don't come if you're not up to it. And remember, that's twenty-four hours worth so you guys should split it between yourselves. When the coin burns, join Hermione and Ron. Staying in the common rooms will keep you safe if you're not up to the fight."

I turned and walked off with Trang towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and respectively: Severus and Remus.

"At least you're warning them." Trang said lightly.

"Yes." I said. "Let's just hope that Draco doesn't catch wind of what we're spreading around. Surely he has to expect that I would've foreseen this, right?"

"Your nervous that he hasn't done anything to incapacitate you?" Trang asked curiously.

I frowned as we approached the classroom door. "I would think he would try keeping tabs on me so see if I tell anyone but I've doubled back and checked my surroundings triple times, I haven't found any signs."

"Maybe under his stress he forgot." Trang said with a shrug, "He's been looking sick recently."

"That is true. . ." I said hesitantly.

We entered the office. Severus had fallen asleep by the crib, his head resting on the bars of the crib, his mouth slack. Remus was also sleeping.

"He is precious." Trang said with a smile and forgetting our argument, we took Remus out of the crib and took turns holding him.

A knock at the door woke Severus and startled both Trang and me. Severus was on his feet in an instant. Trang and I hurried behind his desk, pretending as though we were in detention. I held Remus to my chest tightly, though not enough to hurt him.

"Oh, Professor McGonagall." Severus said in an uncomfortable voice.

"I was to give you this." Professor McGonagall's voice floated through the door. Severus left a huff of breath as though he was carrying something heavy and the door closed shut. I turned to see him holding a large package in his hands.

"What's that?" I asked curiously, handing Remus over to Trang so that I could go and take a look.

"No idea." Severus said, budging the door to our bedroom open and dumped the box on the bed.

He opened the package with care and kind've just stared into the box and then said, "It's obviously from Dumbledore. . . I think."

I peered into the box and saw the strangest things that I would have ever expected to see in the box. There were muggle baby toys and clothes.

"Oh." I said in surprise. "I wonder when he had time to get these."

Trang came over now, holding Remus in her arms and said, "Isn't he a little young for rattles?"

"But not stuffed animals." I said and though I was still confused, I reached in to take out a small panda bear toy before Severus took my hand carefully.

"Let me just go over it quickly, okay?" He asked. "For any dark arts. There's no name, I simply assumed it was from Dumbledore which was not a good idea."

"Test it for what exactly?" Trang asked, sounding skeptical.

"Poison, hexes, jinxes." I recited. "Transfiguration spells, anything really."

"Oh." Trang said and she held Remus farther away from the box.

"Check the panda bear toy first, please Sev." I said. "I'd like to give that to him right away."

"Will do." Severus said gently.

Trang and I took Remus back out to the main area and we played with him for a long time before Trang retired to the Ravenclaw common room.

Severus had moved Remus' crib into the bedroom in case someone unexpected came in without knocking and so I went back into the bedroom and laid Remus in his crib, carefully covering him with a blanket. He cooed and I looked down at him, smiling.

Meanwhile, Severus had separated the toys into two piles, though I didn't know what it meant. "Anything dangerous?" I asked.

"Nothing from what I've seen." Sev sighed, putting his wand down on the desk. "But I thought we should sleep with the stuffed animals before we give it to him."

I smiled, trying not to laugh at the silliness of the idea, and put a hand against his cheek. "You're a great dad, you know that?"

Severus was still fretting. "I mean, I did try reverse charms and revealing spells and I even hugged the damn thing, but I still don't know if it's safe."

Another knock on the door. Severus quickly swept through the bedroom door, snatching his wand from the table and shut the door behind him.

The voices were muffled though I knew the visitor was a man though I didn't recognize any one distinct voice.

He came back after a few minutes and picked up the panda bear, putting it in the crib with Remus and then turned to me, "It was Dumbledore." He said grudgingly, cheeks red. "I got paranoid."

I chuckled, helping him place all the other toys and clothes into the box they had come in. "Like I said, a great dad."

Severus pulled me into bed so that we could enjoy the night together. But like I said before: Remus doesn't like sleep.

⬅️➡️

[braveclementine]

Chapter 19

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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"𝕬𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖆𝖑𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙?" Harry asked as we hurried up the sloping lawn. He was under the invisibility cloak, but I was not as I would turn into a cat once we stepped over the threshold.

"The way your parents died. . ." I said, nearly choking on my words, "Was the way my parents died. When the dementors. . . I just. . . I can hear my mum screaming for my dad. They weren't prepared for the attack. Dad was hiding me in the basement. Said he loved me and everything was going to be okay, ya know?"

Tears were still falling down my face and I wiped them away.

"I'm sorry." Harry said, reaching out and taking my hand. He said nothing else and he didn't have to say anything else.

I cleared my throat and said more solidly. "Dumbledore's back. You can either take the long route back to the Gryffindor Tower and hear it from Nearly Headless Nick, or you can just go straight to his office."

"Thanks Elizabeth." Harry said and I turned into a cat and bounded up the marble steps to make my way towards Severus' office.

I turned human, opening the door. Severus was already in bed and I quickly undressed and slid into bed next to him. He was sound asleep.

I hadn't cried myself out yet and I did so now, quietly so I did not wake Severus.

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𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖚𝖘 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖚𝖕 when I woke up.

"Rough night?" He asked softly, crossing the room as I sat up to take my face in his hands and press his lips to mine.

"A bit." I said softly after we broke apart. I climbed out of the bed and put on school clothes and then started switching books out of the bag like I always did. "I'll see you after school." I said, slinging the bookbag over my shoulders, and wincing- Hagrid's arm might've left a bruise- pulled the door open.

"Wait." Severus said and I paused in the doorway. "Are you alright?"

I smiled at him but felt that if I didn't leave soon I'd start crying again. "Yeah, Sev. I'm alright." I shut the door behind me.

I headed to Charms because I was cutting very close to late and had no time to grab breakfast. I took my place with the Hufflepuffs and eavesdropped on the Harry's conversation with Hermione and Ron.

How Slughorn had told Tom Riddle about Horcruxes. How Tom had asked about the idea of splitting the soul into seven pieces. The six possible horcruxes- two definite ones and four less definite. And of course, there was more talk about the prophecy and how Harry was going to kill Voldemort and then there was a slight surprise: Dumbledore was going to let Harry come with him to destroy a horcrux.

"Wow. Wow. You're actually going to go with Dumbledore. . . and try and destroy. . . wow." Ron said, waving his wand in small circles absentmindedly.

"Ron, you're making it snow." Hermione said, reaching out and grabbing his wrist to redirect the wand from the ceiling.

I watched as Lavender Brown glared at Hermione with puffy red eyes. Hermione might've noticed too because she let go of Ron's arm very quickly.

"Oh yeah." Ron said, looking around them as the white flakes settled on their shoulders. "Sorry. . . looks like we've all got horrible dandruff now. . ." He brushed some snow off Hermione's shoulder and Lavender burst into tears. Ron turned his back on her.

I supposed they'd split up last night.

"Ah." I heard Harry reply to something that Ron had said, "Well- you don't mind it's over, do you?"

"No." Ron said, "It was pretty bad while she was yelling, but at least I didn't have to finish it."

"Coward." Hermione and I said together.

"Well, it was a bad night for romance all around. Ginny and Dean split up too, Harry." Hermione continued, smirking.

"How come?" Harry asked with to straight of a face to be innocent.

"Oh, something really silly. . . she said he was always trying to help her through the portrait hole, like she couldn't climb in herself. . . but they've been a bit rocky for ages." Hermione said with a simple shrug and a knowing smile.

I grinned too, taking a sneak peak at Dean from across the room. He also looked unhappy, though he didn't show any signs of crying like Lavender.

"Of course, this puts you in a bit of a dilemma, doesn't it?" Hermione asked.

"What d'you mean?" Harry asked in a quick voice.

"The Quidditch team." Hermione said, her smile growing bigger all of the time. "If Ginny and Dean aren't speaking. . ."

"Oh-oh yeah." Harry said. He almost sounded relieved. Hermione and I met each others eyes and quickly looked away, both of us grinning.

"Flitwick." Ron muttered under his breath.

"Now, now boys. A little less talk, a little more action. . . Let me see you try. . ." Professor Flitwick said. Hermione and I had already turned our vinegar into wine though I personally preferred the smell of the vinegar to the smell of the wine. I also preferred the taste but I wasn't sure if that was baby hormones or because I liked sour foods.

Susan, Ernie, and I ducked as Harry's vinegar turned to ice and Ron's flask exploded. Glass shards flew over our heads. Somewhere to my right I heard Ernie curse.

"Yes. . . for homework." Professor Flitwick said, emerging from under the table and pulling shards of glass out of his hat. "practice."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were going to go up to the Gryffindor Tower and I let them go, heading outside to sit under a nice tree instead because I had a free period. I would've liked to have gone to the Room of Requirement and entered the art studio, but I had promised myself I would only go in there on the weekends. So now instead, I worked on drawings outside.

Ever since I had done the Professor portrait fiasco, the influx of drawing requests had skyrocketed to the point that I had to keep a log for each person and what they wanted. Prices came after.

Dad's birthday came and though I knew it was probably better if I didn't, I created a drawing for him, and sent it off with Sadie along with some chocolate from Honeydukes.

The Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match was the most exciting talk in the school. If Gryffindor won, they won the Championship. If Gryffindor lost by only a little bit, then Hufflepuff would play Ravenclaw for the final match. I wasn't sure which outcome I wanted yet.

There became loud chants and songs from both the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, making fun of opposing players. This created either people who enjoyed the attention, or people who had to dash off to the loo to puke. But I much preferred this to Slytherin v. Gryffindor matches where you often had to carry a shield around to keep from being hit with wayward spells.

In my personal life, the large teacher portrait was nearly done. I had a few more teachers to draw in and Susan was helping me figure out what sort of scenery could be drawn behind them but other than that, it was nearly done. Oh, and we had to get the students signatures too.

Along with art problems, I was having difficulty with the stupid Runes homework and I wondered why I hadn't dropped the subject yet. Everything else was easy. Runes used to be easy, and now it was getting more difficult and I was frustrated easily.

But Severus and I were having lots of fun besides that. I kept toying with the idea of amusement parks over the summer. I wondered what his reaction would be or how he'd react on a roller coaster. It was an amusing idea and I kept thinking about it often.

The Felix Felicis potion was approaching finished, our child was going to be born completely healthy according to Madam Pomfrey, and to top it all off, I knew perfectly well that Harry and Ginny were going to kiss soon.

At the same time, I was trying to figure out whether or not to stop Harry from using the Sectumsempra curse on Draco. If he did use it, he wouldn't be able to use his potions book for the rest of the school year. But if he didn't use it, would that change the outcome of the Quidditch match and therefore, change the outcome of whether or not Ginny and Harry were going to kiss?

I still hadn't made up my mind for the time, when Harry was walking down to the bathroom to see why Draco was in there with Moaning Myrtle.

But I couldn't just do nothing and so, trying to push away the knowledge that I was breaking a promise I'd made with Trang, I hurried down to the bathroom, my wand in my pocket.

I heard shouting in the bathroom by the time I got to the door. It was Moaning Myrtle's voice shouting, "No! No! Stop it! Stop STOP!"

I wrenched the door open, grabbing Harry's arm to push him aside without thinking and blocking a hex from Draco.

"Stop both of you. Protego!" A shield popped up between the two of them.

Draco's next spell rebounded, hit himself, and he dropped. "Crap." I muttered, quickly reversing the spell for the shield and hurried over to where he was.

"Draco?" I asked uncertainly. There was watering dripping on the floor everywhere, a sink had been broken. "Dr-" He made a sudden movement.

I flew backwards, crashing into a stall. Pain shot through my back and I felt like I was hanging on something.

"Elizabeth!" Harry shouted. I was momentarily dazed, trying to figure out what had happened. I heard Draco shout, "Crucio!" But there were no screams, so maybe the spell hadn't hit Harry.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" Harry shouted.

I would've shouted no if it had been possible but I felt like I couldn't move. There were spots dancing in front of my vision and the pain in my back was growing. Or was it fading?

Then I heard Harry said, "No- No- I didn't-" I heard the sound of knees hitting tile. My head felt kind've fuzzy. I tried opening my eyes but my lids were heavy.

"MURDER! MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER!"

I heard the door bang open. There were fast footsteps slapping against the wet floor. There was a strange buzzing noise in my ears. I didn't pass out, though the pain was great enough that I would've welcome it. There were strange things poking into my back, splintered wood around my body. I think they were wood chunks anyways... maybe?

There were heavy hands. There was sobbing and wailing. There was a snappish voice. There were uncomfortable jolting movements. And then eventually there was a soft bed, hectic voices, smooth bandages, loud noises, and something smooth like honey dropping down my throat. Only then, did I fall asleep.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕴 𝖜𝖔𝖐𝖊 𝖚𝖕 in the hospital wing though at this point, I wasn't surprised that I was here.

I would've sat up by my waist didn't seem to want to bend and I closed my eyes in horror, assuming the worst: I'd been paralyzed again.

"Hey." a soft voice said and I turned my head and saw Severus sitting in a wooden chair next to me.

"Hi." I barely whispered.

"You're going to be fine." He said, taking my hand in his. "Madam Pomfrey gave you something to immobilize you. She said you shouldn't move but she didn't trust you to stay still on your own." Relief flooded through my veins, "The baby's fine too." More relief.

"What. . . what happened?" I croaked out.

Severus's hand tightened on mine. "I don't know exactly. I didn't get there until afterwards. But according to Potter, you flew back into the stall when Malfoy hexed you. The stall broke and some of the wood pierced your spine. You would've been paralyzed again if Madam Pomfrey hadn't gotten to you so quickly."

I would've shivered if I could've moved. "But the baby. . ."

"Baby is completely, totally, 100 percent fine." Severus said, rubbing circles on the back of my hand though I couldn't feel it.

"Good." I whispered. "Draco. . . used Cruciatus curse. . ."

Severus' face was hard. "I had to punish Potter-"

"I know." I whispered, "Even Professor McGonagall. . . agree. Every. . . Saturday till. . .break. . ."

"Yes, yes." Severus said quickly, probably to keep me from talking, "And you don't have to talk, alright?"

"Why does my throat. . . hurt?"

Severus was hesitant as he answered, "Madam Pomfrey found some wood shards in your throat, very small, but they created scratches inside. I don't know how you managed to swallow them but it was probably an accident. Or it could've been when Malfoy hexed you, perhaps he got you in the throat. A number of things." He paused and then said, "You're lucky you didn't die, Elizabeth."

Yes, lucky. That was something, wasn't it? But Draco could've died. And from the outside point of view, the fight wasn't supposed to be that dangerous. It hadn't been dangerous when I'd foreseen it.

"Wasn't supposed to be dangerous." I muttered. "I put up shield charm. Draco's spell bounced, hit him. I was going to help him, went over to him. Thought he was unconscious. That's when he hit me with spell."

Severus hand tightened on my own. Feeling was starting to flow back into my body and it wasn't a very comfortable feeling.

Madam Pomfrey came bustling over, a bottle of something in her hands. "Drink up, drink up." She said.

The liquid was tipped down my throat and I coughed and sputtered at the peppery taste. "Do you want an unhealthy baby?" She scolded me. "Drink up."

I drank obediently, eyes streaming from tears. Merlin's beard that stuff was awful!

"Where is Draco?" I asked, my throat feeling much better. The hospital wing was empty. I wondered what time it was.

"You've been in here for two days." Madam Pomfrey said. "Mr. Malfoy was discharged a day ago."

"Crap." I muttered, closing my eyes. "School work."

"It's fine." Severus said. "Miss Granger brought your work in for you every day." He pointed to a stack of parchment on the bedside table. "You can work on it when you feel better."

"I can work on it now." I said, reaching over and taking the first thing off the stack. It was about seventy-seven pages long on the correct way to translate runes that are found on ancient sites from the specific year of 900 BC. "On second thought, this can wait." I muttered, tossing it onto Severus' lap and picking up the next thing.

Severus read the title of the papers I'd thrown into his lap and smirked, "Yes, I can see why you wouldn't want to start with that."

I flew through the simple things: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Herbology, Transfiguration, and Potions. There was nothing from Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures and as Runes was my only other class, that was the last homework part I had to do.

I looked down glumly at the thick article that I had finally picked up. Severus had fallen into a doze, his head hanging down, giving the impression that he might be praying.

I threw the article aside. Stupid Ancient Runes.

I picked up the log and art pad and started on my drawings, working on specialty cases first before moving to the more mundane cases, working down the list in a methodic process.

Severus woke up near midnight and looked over my shoulder as I traced out abs on a naked Blaise Zabini.

"What are you drawing?" Severus asked, sounding repulsed. I looked over at him and grinned and pushed the log towards him. He traced his finger down and then snorted, "Pansy Parkinson ordered this?"

"Yes. . ." I said slowly, lifting the artpad so that I could blow shavings away and not smear the paper. "You'd be surprised how many times people want naked drawings of other people. I've even gotten offers of people who want to be used as muses. To be honest," I continued, ignoring Severus jerk reaction of a scowl, "-it's gotten to be redundant."

"Is that why you have a specialty list?" Severus asked, looking back at the log.

"Yes. . .that, is for people who don't order drawings of other people. Those are people who want mythical creatures or normal creatures or landscapes or anything that isn't a naked person." I carefully retracted the finished drawing for Pansy from the art pad and moved it to a safe spot on a chair so that nothing would smudge it or ruin it.

"You should draw me something." Severus said carelessly.

"Really?" I asked, starting on a couple portrait for Trang and Oliver. It had to start with a black metal bench in a park. . .

"Yes." Severus said, flipping the log closed, and placed it next to my knee.

"Anything in particular?" I asked curiously, tracing out the outline for a sidewalk.

"No." Severus said with a small smile. "Surprise me."

"What day is it tomorrow?" I asked.

"Saturday." Severus said.

"Good to know." I muttered.

Severus stood. "I'll check back in on you in a few hours, okay?"

"In the morning." I clarified, "Get some sleep."

"I will." he kissed my cheek and left the hospital wing.

A drawing for Severus? Many different ideas clouded my head as I worked steadily on Trang and Oliver's picture. But when I finally settled on something, I pushed it into the 'later' bin of my head and continued to work my way down the list of people.

I fell asleep sometime around three in the morning.

I could hear the commentary of the game the next day, but I blocked most of it out, not very interested in the outcome anymore.

Now that the game was here and would be over soon, it meant that very soon, Severus was going to have to kill Dumbledore.

So I worked quickly on the portrait for Severus. When I was discharged after the game, I hurried to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, all my pictures in separated folders for their owners. I knocked and heard Severus say enter.

I entered, noticing that there were many things different with the room. It looked gloomier, more depressing than before. There were cobwebbed boxes sitting in the corner of the room. Severus had put up new containers of slimy things in jars that he had previously had in the dungeon.

I set the folders down on the desk, moving through them quickly and found the one I'd labelled with Severus name on it. I picked it out, moving all the folders together again and handed it over to him.

"You finished it already?" He asked, taking the folder from me.

I didn't answer, waiting for his reaction as he pulled out not one, but four sheets out of the folder. He spread them out.

The youngest was a baby girl, almost newborn, eyes closed but adorable nonetheless. Then there was the little girl version, anywhere between four and eight. She had the black hair I was imagining, the blue eyes, the red lips (though not colored, the drawing was left up to the imagination). There was a teenager version and also an adult version.

Severus said nothing. He simply stood, embracing me for a long time.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕲𝖗𝖞𝖋𝖋𝖎𝖓𝖉𝖔𝖗 𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝖜𝖔𝖓, meaning they had won the Cup (a slight disappointment). Also, there was quite the gossip about Ginny and Harry (not that I minded). It was great gossip and I enjoyed it immensely. I particularly enjoyed overhearing people who were stunned that Harry hadn't asked me out. (No, I sincerely found this funny, no sarcasm).

There were also rumors about Ginny and Harry sleeping together and what Harry might have tattooed on his abs or his back or his buttocks or his dick. Ginny couldn't actually answer as she didn't know, but her responses were quite colorful.

I had finished the teachers portrait and had left it in the art studio. Hermione was going to enlargen it with a spell this upcoming Saturday. Then I'd have people sign it in groups. Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins.

I had a hard time figuring out how I was going to get the Slytherins to sign though. The other houses would be easy. I could certainly get my own house to sign and Gryffindor would certainly join in with Harry and Hermione's persuasion. Trang could get the Ravenclaws on board, perhaps with some help from Luna even. But we had no on the inside for Slytherin and it was no secret that I didn't get along with Slytherins.

But I mean, did we really even need Slytherin signatures? Severus wasn't going to care if his house students signed or not. We could just have red, blue, and gold (yellow wasn't a good color to write with) signatures. Who needed green? Yet it might unify us, even if only for a moment.

The Felix Felicis potion had a few weeks left before completion.

The baby was kicking, strong and healthy. She had actually cracked a rib, something that had scared Severus more than it had scared me. I'd heard babies cracked ribs sometimes. Apparently, Severus had never heard that.

I had finally come up with a few solid names for our baby girl. Many involved versions where 'Lily' was either the first or second name. The other names varied. Many variations included Trang. Trang Lily. Lily Trang. Of course, there were other names. Eileen, after Severus' mother. Hope, after Dad's mother. Personally, I found the names Seraphina, Remi, and Kisa attractive.

Severus on the other hand, was quite sure that the baby was a boy and wanted me to come up with baby boy names but I wouldn't. It was a girl, I could feel it.

"You'd think people had better things to gossip about." Ginny said from the Gryffindor common room floor, leaning against Harry's legs and reading the Daily Prophet. "Three dementor attacks in a week, and all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it's true you've got a Hippogriff tattooed across your chest."

Ron, Hermione, Trang, and I roared with laughter. Ron and Hermione were sitting on the couch across from Harry's chair. Trang was sitting in an arm chair perpendicular to the two couches and I was sitting on a wooden stool in front of a small art easel, working on the Professors' drawing.

I'd snuck the art easel out of the Room of Requirement and had jinxed it to fit in my pocket. It was an pocket easel. Was it sneaking if it technically belonged to you?

"What did you tell her?" Harry asked, ignoring us.

"I told her it's a Hungarian Horntail, much more macho." Ginny said.

I snorted.

"Thanks, and what did you tell her Ron's got?" Harry asked, smiling.

"A Pygmy Puff, but I didn't say where."

Hermione, Trang, and I laughed while Ron scowled.

"Watch it." Ron said. "Just because I've given you my permission doesn't mean I can't withdraw it-"

"Your permission. Since when did you give me permission to do anything? Anyway, you said yourself you'd rather it was Harry than Michael or Dean." Ginny scoffed, glaring over the edge of the newspaper.

Ron said grudgingly, "Yeah, I would and just as long as you don't start snogging each other in public-"

"You filthy hypocrite! What about you and Lavender, thrashing around like a pair of eels all over the place?" Ginny demanded angrily.

"She has a point." I said lightly, putting the finishing details to Firenze's character.

"I don't see you with anyone." Ron snarked.

I smirked, "Because I don't let you see me with anyone."

This spiked Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's curiosity.

"You're seeing someone?" Ron asked with obvious surprise.

I rolled my eyes, setting the brush down, observing the drawing, "Of course I am."

"Fred?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"No, we're just friends." I said, picking up the pencil to fix a few details to Professor Burbage's person.

"Does he even go to this school?" Ginny asked.

"Of course he does." I said lightly.

"Why didn't you bring him to Slughorn's party then?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, he was there." I said with a smirk, "but we didn't go together. We're keeping it a secret."

"But why?" Hermione questioned, "Surely, you don't think we're going to judge you or anything?"

"Oh!" Ron shouted, pointing a finger, "It's a Slytherin, isn't it?"

I said nothing, fixing my eyes determinedly on Uncle Moody's character, adding microscopic details to the carved wooden leg and his magical eye.

"Oho! It is a Slytherin!" Ron said gleefully. "It's probably Zabini."

"He did kiss me once." I admitted, "But I'm not dating him."

"A Slytherin kissed you?" Hermione asked in amazement. Both Harry and Trang were determinedly keeping their mouths shut and looking in different directions of each other or me.

I looked up, smirking. "Sometimes, I think you guys forget that I'm not a Gryffindor and therefore have no serious animosity with a majority of the Slytherins."

"Except you know, the ones whose parents would love to hand you over to Voldemort." Harry finally interjected to which Ron and Trang laughed.

"Which, though we may want to object, isn't a majority of the Slytherins." I said lightly. "But we weren't talking about me, we were talking about how Ron finds he has to give you and Ginny permission to be in love."

And that started a whole new conversation that got the others off of who I was dating.

However, this didn't deter Ron. For some reason, he was quite determined to get to the bottom of whoever I was dating. Harry and Trang kept their mouths shut while Hermione and Ginny were the type of people who, though curious, believed I had a right to my own privacy.

The time came so that the fifth years were studying for O.W.L.s and the seventh years were studying N.E.W.T.s and the first through fourth years were getting ready to take their own exams. Sixth-years on the other hand, didn't have to take any exams. N.E.W.T.s covered years six and seven.

Trang and I wrote up a schedule so that we could get the four houses to sign the drawing. We had sent a letter to each house head, telling them where to show up on what day at what time and asking them to please participate.

I was quite pleased with how the drawing came out. I had finally gotten the drawing to where the Professors were grouped together but that everyone could see whatever item was in their hands or whatever animals were sitting upon their shoulders.

Dumbledore was in the middle, Fawkes on his shoulder, his arms behind his back.

Professor McGonagall had a cat upon her shoulders.

Severus had a potion bottle in his hands.

Professor Sprout was holding a plant- specifically a mandrake (any herbologist could see by the leaves).

Professor Flitwick had his wand in his hands, standing upon a couple of cushions so that he was just tall enough to reach Professor McGonagall's shoulder.

Professor Burbage still had the rotary telephone.

Firenze had a bow and arrow, looking quite handsome, his long hair tossed down his back. Like I usually did, his muscles seemed to stand out more and more compared to the other Professors who wore long-sleeved robes or shirts to cover anything. But I'd always preferred Firenze looking muscular than anything else.

Madam Hooch was exactly the same as the first draft, leaning on a broom with the other fist on her hip, a whistle about her neck.

Professor Trelawney was holding a crystal ball in her hands. The crystal ball showed a hippogriff flying into the moon.

Professor Vector (arithmancy) was holding a thick book with a black cover and white words that read: A new theory of Numerology. It was tucked under her arm, angled just the right way so that the words could be seen.

Professor Babbling (runes) had both hands out, and runes were drawn above her hands as though they were floating there.

Professor Sinistra was on the very far side of the paper, leaning on a telescope that was pointed up to the ceiling. (With the background behind them, it was pointed through the window).

Madam Pince had a stack of library books in her arms, the titles facing outwards and could be read if one wanted to. Each title was actually one of Gilderoy Lockhart's books, if one looked closely enough.

Mr. Filch was standing close next to her, his arms in the position that they'd have been in if he'd been holding a baby. As it was, he was holding Mrs. Norris. I made him grumpier than he'd been in the funny drawings, but still kinder than real life.

Professor Slughorn was on the other far end by Professor Sprout, holding a large box of crystalized pineapple. Tucked in his breast pocket, just poking out, was a small bottle of Felix Felicis.

Professor Binns floated above the other teachers, a book on goblin rebellions wide open and his mouth was open as though he was still reading aloud.

Professor Hagrid was near Firenze, though much taller and larger. He had dead polecats in one hand and his other hand looked as though it was hovering on air. I knew however that it was really resting on a Thestral. (I didn't draw the thestral, it was only supposed to look like it was hovering on air. But anyone who knew or had listened to Hagrid's lesson knew it was a thestral).

Then Professor Kettleburn was also nearby, half his body made of up of replacements- looking worse than Uncle Moody- and half his body just that- his body. One arm was behind his back and the other hand was lifted up, one finger up as though he'd just gotten an idea. It was a bit funny, I thought but he was one of the only Professors not holding anything. I had never met him and so had no idea of what I should have him hold.

Professor Grubby-Plank also held nothing in her hands and was one of the only Professors not standing. She was kneeling instead, petting the head of a baby unicorn.

Madam Pomfrey held a bottle of Skele-grow in her hands and her wand was just poking out of her apron pocket.

Then of course, there were the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. I had changed Quirrell, back to wearing the purple turban, a nervous look on his face. He also had nothing in his hands. His hands were clasped together, nervously.

Professor Lockhart looked quite boastful in my drawing, his blond hair swept to the side. If it was colored, the robes would've been a bright, beautiful turquoise. On hand was on his hip, the other hanging down his side, his wand between his fingers. In the crook of his elbow was his book Wandering with Werewolves. Sitting on his shoulder was a blue pixie.

And then there was Dad- Professor Lupin. His hair (if colored) would've been completely red-brown. He looked less tired in this drawing, less ill. His robes were still a shabby brown. Under one arm was his Grindylow tank, a black cat by his feet, and his wand in his pocket.

Professor Moody stood, leaning on his walking stick. His normal eye was focused out, towards the students or whoever else was looking at the drawing. Meanwhile, his magical eye was focused towards Dolores Umbridge.

Dolores Umbridge was as far away from Hagrid and Firenze as possible, looking completely evil- the way that I'd planned it. She looked like a short fat toad. In her hand was a black quill that anyone in detention would've recognized. Her short wand was in her other hand.

That was that, the drawing was done. The Professors were almost all nearly smiling (exceptions being Severus, Uncle Moody, and Filch). It really had come out wonderfully- more wonderfully than I'd hoped.

The Hufflepuffs were the first to show up at the Room of Requirement. Susan was in the front, leading and everyone else lined up after her. Hermione had enlargened the drawing and we'd put sixteen tables together so that it could be signed with no trouble. It would stretch as tall as the ceiling in the Great Hall and as wide as the teachers table.

Gold/Orange signatures soon covered the drawing.

The Ravenclaws came the next week, brought in by Luna and Trang. They were quite excited, more excited than the Hufflepuffs, because none of them had known that this was coming. All the Hufflepuffs on the other hand had known.

Soon there were Gold and Blue signatures covering the page.

The Gryffindors came on a Friday night. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were leading along with many of the other other Sixth-year Gryffindors. The seventh-year Gryffindors seemed more hesitant until they saw the drawings.

I was quite happy to see so many signatures on the paper and so did Susan and the rest of my Hufflepuff friends. I had forgotten I had a baby inside of me. I hadn't forgotten that in two weeks, Dumbledore was going to die.

There was a week between the Gryffindors signing and the day the Slytherins were supposed to sign. On Wednesday night, June 18th, I was drawing in Severus' office when suddenly, there was a peculiar sensation and then there was the sound of water splattering on the floor.

"Oh." I muttered, a bit dazed.

Severus was out of his chair so fast that it slammed against the opposite wall. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, he'd scooped me up into his arms and was dashing out of the classroom.

Madam Pomfrey had prepared a table for us in her office in case there was a student who came in and needed her during my procedure.

"Trang." I gasped as I laid on the table. The spell was starting to wear away. "I need Trang here Sev."

Sev's face was pale and he simply nodded, his jaw tight, and he rushed from the room.

"Breathe." Madam Pomfrey advised in a calm voice but I could tell underneath the calm façade that she was silently freaking out too. Or perhaps nervous was the correct word. She'd never delivered a baby before.

The contractions were painful. I'd felt different variations of pain, but these were different. Of course, they weren't painful like being thrown into some splinters of wood, but they were still painful. Pain often led to screams, something I thought was exaggerated in movies: they weren't. Madam Pomfrey had soundproofed the room.

Severus came back with Trang on his heels.

"Oh Elizabeth!" Trang said and for some reason, she was quite happy. How ridiculous. I was in pain! How could she be happy? This baby was going to be the death of me!

I screamed through gritted teeth in pain. Severus' face paled more and Trang turned to him, "Sometimes the men wait outside."

Severus kind've nodded his head as in a daze and stumbled towards the door. His hand caught on the door, but seemed unable to open it, and then he took a chair near the bed, his face in his hands.

I clenched my fists tight as though that would take the pain of the contractions away. Trang sat by my side, holding my hand, her eyes shining with happiness. Madam Pomfrey was saying stuff, but it didn't really seem all that clear to me. I think it was something about breathing and relaxing.

I was sweating. It was extremely hot in here. I couldn't wait for the baby to be out of me, for the pain to lapse.

I wasn't sure how long it took. A few minutes? An hour? Several hours? A few weeks? But finally Madam Pomfrey announced that the head was crowning.

Severus' head popped up from his hands. There was an unusual expression of his face, quite like the one on his face when we'd first found out that I was going to have a baby. Joy? I think that's what I'd thought it was before. Jubilation?

"It's a boy." Madam Pomfrey announced.

"What?" I asked as she took the baby in her arms, taking him over to the wash table, wiping the blood away. All the pain was gone and all there was now was confusion. "A boy?"

"Yes." Madam Pomfrey said, turning around, the baby boy in her arms. She handed him to me and I took him clumsily into my arms, leaning him against my breast, and looking down at him.

"Remus Sirius Snape." I said out of nowhere.

"What?" Severus asked, looking down at the baby too. He'd gotten out of his seat at some point, though I couldn't remember what that was.

I looked up at him. "His name. It kind've popped out so it must be right. Remus Sirius Snape."

Severus just nodded and then I handed the child up to him and though he seemed surprised, he picked the child up and held him, and then smiled, a real, true, genuine, smile.

Both Trang and Madam Pomfrey kind've just stared. Though Trang had known that Severus could smile, it was probably quite a shock to Madam Pomfrey who had never seen this side to Sev.

There was a knock on the door and Madam Pomfrey hurried over. Trang threw a blanket over my legs.

Dumbledore entered the room, a smile on his face. "Congratulations Severus."

"Thank you." Severus murmured, looking at Dumbledore. A silent conversation seemed to pass between the two of them and then Dumbledore turned to me.

"What is his name?"

"Remus Sirius Snape." Severus said for me.

Dumbledore chuckled, "I'm surprised you didn't try to change the name Severus."

Severus shook his head. "It's his name."

"Poppy, Miss Nyguen, perhaps let us leave the two of them alone for some time." Dumbledore said with a smile. Trang stood, bending to kiss my cheek, touched Severus shoulder quickly before leaving the room. Madam Pomfrey left and Dumbledore followed after, closing the door gently behind him.

"How long was that?" I asked curiously.

Severus used the clock as a reference. "Three hours and seven minutes."

I held my hands out and Severus handed Remus back to me.

"Are you disappointed?" Severus asked, "I know you thought it was going to be a girl the entire time."

I looked down into Remus' face. He had a small dimple and lovely brown eyes. His hair was blond, a complete anomaly but I heard that babies hair darkened over time so blond probably wasn't his real color yet.

"No." I whispered. "Surprises are good."

Severus chuckled, kissing my cheek. "By the way, the Felix Felicis potion finished yesterday. I already bottled a few jars. I knew you were going to want them."

"Thank you." I said.

Severus held my hand tightly. A few hours later, Madam Pomfrey came back. She probably wanted her office back. Severus and I made our way back to his- our- room. There was a crib set up in the corner that hadn't been there before we'd left.

"Dumbledore." Severus said simply.

But I couldn't put Remus down. I sat on the bed, my head on Severus' shoulder, and held him.

"You are okay with it, right?" I asked quietly.

"With what?" Severus asked.

"His name." I said. "I didn't really think, it popped out, it felt right, but I didn't consult you first."

Severus rubbed my arm. "Yes, I'm quite okay with his name. You didn't name him James and I have no problems with Lupin anymore."

I kissed him and finally got up and put Remus in the crib, watching him for a moment.

Father, brother, husband, son.

I climbed into bed, snuggling greatly against Severus chest. His arms were tight around me, holding me in a shell of comfort. I fell asleep, the happiest I'd been in a long time.

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[braveclementine]

Chapter 17

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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𝕴 𝖘𝖆𝖙 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 at the Hufflepuff table the next day and unfolded the newspaper, skimming for the important things.

Mundungus had been arrested and placed in Azkaban. Reading the rest of the article, it seemed as though he had impersonated an Inferius while attempting to rob someone. I snorted before taking a bite into my muffin. Just lovely.

There were multiple disappearances though none of the names rang a bell.

A nine-year old had been arrested for trying to kill his grandparents. They'd put him in a ward in St. Mungo's with top security. Of course, it looked as though he was under the Imperius Curse so they couldn't blame him. Especially at nine! I mean, full adults had a hard time throwing off the Imperius Curse. I wished I was on the jury that was going to try him. I'd find him not guilty.

On top of all the bad news, it was Monday which meant using the time turner to get to Care of Magical Creatures class and Ancient Runes before Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Hagrid talked about Nundus in class and all I could say was that I was glad that he hadn't found a real one to bring into class. They were terrifying creatures and the only thing I was glad about learning was that I should most definitely stay away from one if I ever came across one, which I wouldn't because I was never going to East Africa.

I hurried to Defense Against the Dark Arts after that, arriving on time, and sitting in my seat, quickly pulling out the dementor essay and my book. Harry entered the room, the last to come in and Severus said, "Late again, Potter. Ten points from Gryffindor."

I glared at Severus but he would not look at me. He probably knew the look I was giving him.

Severus waved his wand so that our essay floated from our desks to his in a neat pile and said, "Before we start, I want your dementor essays. And I hope for your sakes they are better than the tripe I had to endure on resisting the Imperius Curse. Now, if you will all open your books to page- what is it, Mr. Finnigan?"

Seamus had his hand in the air and he lowered it as he said, "Sir, I've been wondering, how do you tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost? Because there was something in the paper about an Inferius-"

"No, there wasn't." Severus said in a bored voice.

"But sir," Seamus protested, "I heard people talking-"

"If you had actually read the article in question, Mr. Finnigan, you would have known that the so-called Inferius was nothing but a smelly sneak thief by the name of Mundungus Fletcher."

I rolled my eyes. Mundungus and Severus were on the same team and he certainly should act like it.

"But Potter seems to have a lot to say on the subject." Severus said, pointing towards the back of the room and I instinctively turned to see Harry's bright red cheeks. I faced forward again, glaring at Severus who was still not meeting my eyes. "Let us ask Potter how we would tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost."

"Er- well- ghosts are transparent." Harry said awkwardly.

"Oh, very good. Yes it is easy to see that nearly six years of magical education have not been wasted on you, Potter. 'Ghosts are transparent'."

I sighed, leaning on my left hand while I drew absentmindedly with my right hand.

There was laughter, a shrill shriek from Pansy and the rest were scattered through the others.

"Yeah, ghosts are transparent, but Inferi are dead bodies, aren't they? So they'd be solid-" Harry said, sounding very much like he'd like to curse Professor Snape to oblivion.

"A five-year-old could have told us as much. The Inferius is a corpse that has been reanimated by a Dark Wizard's spells. It is not alive, it is merely used like a puppet do to the wizard's bidding. A ghost, as I trust that you are all aware by now, is the imprint of a departed soul left upon the earth. . . and of course, as Potter so wisely tells us, transparent." Professor Snape sneered.

"Well, what Harry said is most useful if we're trying to tell them apart!" Ron exclaimed, "When we come face-to-face with one down a dark alley, we're going to have a shufti to see if it's solid, aren't we, we're not going to be asking, 'Excuse me, are you the imprint of a departed soul?'"

I nearly laughed and quickly lowered my head so that I could laugh without Severus knowing that I was laughing.

"Another ten points from Gryffindor. I would expect nothing more sophisticated from you, Ronald Weasley, the boy so solid he cannot Apparate half an inch across a room." Severus snapped.

I looked up at him, exasperated.

"Now open your books to page two hundred and thirteen and read the first two paragraphs on the Cruciatus Curse." Severus said, his lip curling. His eyes met mine briefly and he went back up to his desk.

I sped-read the chapter on the Cruciatus Curse before pulling out an artpad and started to draw again. I was very carefully trying not act as though I wasn't doing my work, because people tend to notice when Professors favor students. If Severus simply walked past me drawing and not working, people would notice. After all, I wasn't a Slytherin.

But today, Severus didn't seem keen to walk through the class and I had a very nice outline done for my next painting. It was a farm scene, a place I'd like to live one day. Own horses and cows and sheep and chickens and rabbits. No pigs.

I also wondered about the apparition lessons that were going to be held in Hogsmeade. I was upset, mostly because they weren't open to those who weren't seventeen by the date in April. Of course, this had surprised Mr. Twycross because of my superb ability to apparate. He was talking to the Ministry about bending the rules for me. I'd told him good luck with that, but it wasn't going to happen. He was quite confident I was wrong.

There was no way that Scrimgeour was going to bend rules for me. Though of course, I would've liked to have seen Umbridge's face when told I apparated on the first try of the first day without any prior tries. It was probably carefully concealed fury. Kingsley would've been proud though.

I hadn't seen Kingsley in a long time and I missed him. I could always contact him on my two-way mirror though. . . maybe I would soon.

The bell rang and I slowly packed my things away, making sure that I was the last student in the classroom.

"You'll be late for your next class if you don't hurry along Miss Kane." Severus said indifferently, not looking up at me as he continued to write on the parchment.

"Really?" I snapped, "I told you to lay off Harry just a little bit." I swung my bag off the table and stomped out of the room.

He was a right pain in the ass, he was. My husband and yet the person who hated my brother, one of the people I loved most after him. Or maybe before him, I wasn't sure. Did siblings take preference over mates?

The rest of the day passed in a blur and I went to the art studio before dinner. I had all the teachers drawings in a manila folder, labelled and ready to be set out this weekend. I also had duplicates in a folder in my bag and the other duplicates for the message board were spread on the table. I planned on writing the names of the Professor's underneath in calligraphy or maybe a broad font inside a banner.

I took out the two-way mirror, propping it up on an art easel, completely uncertain if this was going to work.

"Er- Kingsley?"

I waited a few seconds and then there was some movement in the mirror and he pulled it out. I smiled, looking at his handsome, kind, intelligent face. A weight was lifted off my chest.

"Elizabeth!" He said in that slow, deep voice of his. It was quite a handsome voice. Sexy, almost. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes." I said, remembering that the last time I had seen him I'd been fighting four Death Eaters by myself. "I just. . .I wanted to see you for a bit. . . talk to you. . . I haven't seen you in a long time. This isn't a bad time, is it?"

"Not at all." Kingsley said. "I'm just working on a simple case. We're trying to track down Bellatrix Lestrange. The Ministry's furious that her and Greyback got into the Burrow. They don't know how they did it yet. The security at the Burrow's been upped triple."

I shivered, blushing a little. "That doesn't sound simple at all."

Kingsley smiled. "How's school?"

Ah, a subject change. Very well then. "It's alright." I said with a shrug of my shoulders. "Boring, actually."

He chuckled. "Where are you? I don't recognize that room."

I held the mirror up a little higher, showing him around the art studio, showing him most of my drawings (including the funny Professor ones) and also the drawings up on the walls and everything in between. I'd finished one of the windows (a middle one) for the stained glass project.

"Quite splendid." Kingsley said. "I think Tonks mentioned something about your art skills sometime after Christmas."

"Yes." I said. "She was at the Burrow. She said I should sell my artwork." I rolled my eyes. "But everyone knows that art doesn't sell until after the artist is dead."

Kingsley chuckled again. "Is that an unwritten rule?"

I grinned. "I can name a dozen artists who were penniless when they lived and rich after they died. Picasso, Van Gogh, Modigliani, Paul Cezanne-"

"Alright, alright, I take your point." Kingsley said. There was a sound behind him and another face popped into the mirror.

"Hello Elizabeth." Uncle Moody growled, his magical eye rolling, his normal eye focused in the mirror.

"Hi Uncle Moody, how's work?" I said genially.

"Better when not interrupted." He said, but he sounded amused rather than disapproving.

I grinned. "Blame Kingsley. Not me."

Kingsley chuckled again and shooed Uncle Moody away.

"Tell Tonks I said hi, alright?" I asked. "I'll let you get to work, I just really wanted to see someone."

"No problem." Kingsley said, picking up a quill now that the conversation was almost over. "You can call whenever you want."

I smiled, but said nothing else, and put the mirror upside down. It was like hanging up a phone call.

I went back to the Professor drawings, throwing myself into my work.

The door opened and I looked up in surprise. My friends were more accustomed to letting me know before they came and when I realized that it wasn't anyone I was expecting, I turned the folder with the Professors over and swept the papers that were laid out on the table into my arms.

"Sev." I said, shock lacing my voice. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't answer for a moment. He looked quite out of place, wearing all black and magical robes and all. He looked around at my paintings on the walls and the rest of the art studio. "Looking for you." He answered, tapping his knuckles against one of the desks, looking uncomfortable. Good.

I became aware that my bun was being held in place by a paintbrush and I quickly reached up, taking it out. My hair tumbled down my shoulders, reaching my knees in waves. "Oh." I left the papers on a chair, pushing it under the table and made my way to an art easel that was far away from the table.

I picked up a paint palette, moving my hair out of the way to work on the farm scene.

"Are you still mad at me?" He asked quietly.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he made his way towards me and I kicked a stool at him for him to sit on which he did.

"Not really." I said, slightly untruthfully.

"You know that I know that you're lying, right?" Severus asked.

I gritted my teeth, holding the paintbrush inches away from the canvas and then pulled away. I'd spent a lot of time replicating the drawing onto the canvas and I didn't want to have to start over because I painted something wrong.

I put the palette and brush aside and sat down on a stool across from him. "Look, I lost my temper, alright? It's really not that big of a deal."

"When you storm out of my classroom in anger, it's a big deal to me." Severus said, high voice rising an octave.

"Well when you insult my brother, I tend to get slightly defensive." I snapped.

We stared at each other for a moment and I put my face in my hands before running my fingers through my hair and looking away.

Part of me wanted to apologize, say I was sorry, that I didn't mean what I had said. At the same time, I figured it was time to set it straight with Severus. Couples had fights and still made it through. I shouldn't live in fear that I was going to lose Severus if I lost my temper with him occasionally or told him exactly what I thought.

"Sometimes I forget." Severus finally said softly.

I could've left it at that but I didn't. "You avoided my eyes the entire class! You knew exactly what you were doing!"

Severus stood up angrily. "Why can't you just let this go?"

"Why can't you just be nice to him?" I said and then said, "Forget nice, how about just plain decent? You target him on purpose and it's stupid."

"Fine!" He snapped, swinging his cloak behind me, moving to leave the art room and my heart screamed at me to say something, to stop him. I opened my mouth but he was sweeping from the room and I closed it. I sat back down on the stool, staring at the canvas on my easel.

"Hey!" A voice said some minutes later and I snapped my head up and saw Hermione and Ginny had entered the room.

"Oh, hey." I said rather unenthusiastically. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We wanted to see how the portraits were coming along." Ginny said, peering curiously at me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I muttered, standing up and striding over to the table, picking the portraits up again off the chair and spreading them out on the table. "I'm almost done with them."

"What happened Elizabeth?" Hermione asked kindly.

"It doesn't matter." I muttered. "Just forget it."

She dropped the topic, though I'm sure she wouldn't forget any time soon. "They are finished, aren't they?"

"Yes." I said, a bit more enthusiastically. "I was thinking either Sunday night or Monday morning."

"Sunday night." Hermione said. "We can use the cloak."

"I can pin them up on the board." Ginny said.

"And I'll put them in each Professors place." I said. "Just let me work on the ones that your going to put up on the board for a moment."

I placed them all out and started working on the banners and putting the names in calligraphy inside. It was a win-win situation. Now, we just needed it to be Sunday night.

"We can leave them in the room." I said. "That's what I've been doing."

"We'll just have to make sure that Malfoy won't be in here when we need to get the drawings." Hermione pointed out.

"Right." I said. I put the drawings in another sheaf and labelled them 'board' and then put them right next to the other package.

"What are you working on currently?" Ginny asked, looking around.

I motioned for them to follow me over to the art easel and showed them the farm scene I was working on.

"You're painting it?" Hermione asked, bending down and peering at the details.

"Yes." I said simply. I was still quite unhappy.

"Well, we'll leave you to your work." Hermione said, grabbing Ginny's arm.

I shrugged, "It's not just my studio you know. You guys are welcome to stay and do whatever you want, even study if you guys want."

"Sure!" Ginny said. "That sounds great."

"We'll have to go get our schoolbags." Hermione fretted.

"I'll be here." I said.

I briefly wondered if spending all my time in here was going to screw things up for Malfoy. I supposed it didn't matter. Perhaps I should really only be in here on weekends.

They left and I started to paint the canvas in small, light strokes. The night moved on. Ginny and Hermione came with their homework and left and still I painted. When I was done, it was one of the most beautiful things I had painted. I left it to dry.

I headed over to the desk and pulled out my Defense Against the Dark Arts homework and started writing an essay for the Cruciatus curse. Sometime in the middle of it, I fell asleep.

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"𝕰𝖑𝖎𝖟𝖆𝖇𝖊𝖙𝖍 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊." 𝕬 soft voice whispered in my ear.

I rustled uncomfortably.

"Elizabeth, come on, you have to wake up." the voice whispered, still soft and beautiful almost.

I tried opening my heavy lids but I didn't really want to surface. My dream had been nice. Severus and I had been spending a nice afternoon together. I think there was an amusement park even though I knew Severus had never set foot in such a place.

"Elizabeth!" The voice was more anxious now and I finally blinked my eyelids open.

I was on the floor, looking up at the ceiling of the art studio. Severus was leaning over me, his hands on either side of my face, his anxious face relaxed when he saw my eyes were open.

I looked around as I sat up quickly. Ink had spilled down off the table and I wondered if my Cruciatus Curse essay was ruined. I quickly stood up and looked down at the table. Much to my relief, the ink had missed the essay by a few inches.

I quickly picked the essay up, rolling it up and stuffing it into my bag. For the first time, I didn't have my homework done for tomorrow. Panic started to set in.

"I didn't do my homework." I muttered, pulling the bag onto my shoulder. With a wave of his wand, the ink was gone.

"It doesn't matter." Severus said, putting an arm around me, "Come on, let's go."

"Where?" I asked, feeling slightly dazed.

"Our room, of course." Severus said, sounding worried.

"Oh, right." I said, blushing though I was still dazed. So we were fine?

We didn't meet anyone on the way to his office and once we were inside, I checked the time. It was only eleven o'clock. I supposed that the amount of time I'd spent in the art room really had mixed up my sleep cycle.

I sat down on the bed, pulling out homework that Severus grabbed from my hands, "Go to sleep. I don't care if you have the essay done."

"You wouldn't let Harry get away with it." I said, clumsily grabbing for my homework. Severus moved it away from me.

"Yes, but I don't love him and wish his best health either." Severus said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into the bed. Once the covers were around me, I nestled into him, feeling quite warm and fuzzy. I fell asleep quickly.

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𝕴 𝖜𝖔𝖐𝖊 𝖚𝖕 in a dark room, tied to a chair in a circle of light. There were people standing in the shadows, wearing black and I could not see their faces.

"Hello Elizabeth Kane." A cold, shiver inducing voice said and from the shadows stepped Voldemort.

I kept my mouth shut, trying to figure out how I had gotten here.

Voldemort seemed to almost glide towards me, my heart pounding by my brain acting rationally. Surely, I couldn't actually be here, could I? After all, I had been at Hogwarts, I had been at school.

"Mr. Malfoy brought you to us." Voldemort continued, walking around the chair, one pale hand moved along the back of it. "He found you sleeping in the Room of Requirement when he went to work on what he was supposed to be doing. He could not get in. He had heard rumors of what you had turned the room into and he found you. Careless of you, really. . ."

Had I fallen asleep in the room? I could've sworn I'd woken up though. I could've sworn I'd left the room. . . with. . . with Severus, hadn't I? Unless that had been a dream while Draco was transporting me out of the castle. And if this was real. . . I couldn't think about Severus.

"Draco made up for part of his father's mistakes, enough to get Lucius out of Azkaban. You've met Lucius, haven't you, Elizabeth?" Voldemort said in the same, cold voice.

Lucius moved in the shadows, his pale blond hair should have been a dead giveaway from the beginning. His steel gray eyes met mine, but he did not smile the way I would have expected him to.

A snake hissed nearby and I felt something coil around my feet. I would not flinch. I would not say anything.

"I've wanted to meet you for a long time, Elizabeth Kane." Voldemort said softly. "The rumors that surround you. Harry Potter's long lost sister, the future-see-er, the brilliant one."

He circled me again. My fight or flight response was trying to kick in but I could not move. Voldemort took a step back, making a motion to Lucius. A small light appeared, revealing Severus laying on the ground. He was alive, barely, blood seeping from his stomach. His eyes were half open, meeting mine and he mouthed 'I'm sorry'. My heart started to beat double-time, throwing a panicked look at Voldemort.

"What do you want?" I choked out. Voldemort started to laugh. I started to cry.

"Elizabeth. . ."

That voice was different, that voice was far away, more like a voice on the breeze than anything else. And that meant that I wasn't actually here. That meant that I could make this my own.

I willed the ropes to fall off of me and they did and I stood, drawing my wand. Voldemort's eyes widened in shock but his wand was already in his hand.

I willed myself to find a way out of the room and I was outside, by the sea, somewhere I'd wanted to be in a long time.

"Elizabeth..."

I willed myself to wake up and I did so, sitting upright in bed with Severus, gasping, shivering, sweating, shaking. My face was wet with salt water. My voice was hoarse, it was possible I had been screaming.

"Elizabeth!" He said, trying to face me. "What happened? You were crying and screaming in your sleep. I couldn't get you to lay still. You were thrashing around."

"Voldemort." I choked out, wiping my face.

He bit back his usual retort and said, "What?"

I explained what had happened and Severus listened intently and then said, "It was just a dream."

"I know." I muttered, "I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were." Severus said patiently. "I was trying to reassure you."

"Right." I muttered, flopping back down on the bed, "Sorry."

"No." Severus said, laying back down next to me, "I'm sorry."

He didn't elaborate and he didn't have to. He held me in his arms as I sobbed into his chest, shaking, trying to get rid of the image of him bleeding on the ground. The story had been so real, but my imagination was horribly active, and many of my dreams were quite vivid. I was shaking, but he hugged me close and I managed to calm down, falling asleep with no more nightmares.

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𝕿𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝕾𝖆𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖉𝖆𝖞, 𝕳𝖊𝖗𝖒𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖊 and Ron went with other students to Hogsmeade to do apparition lessons while Harry and I stayed behind. Twycross hadn't gotten back to me yet about whether or not I was going to be able to apparate before the designated time.

Harry had gone off to the room of requirement, hoping to catch Malfoy in the act. Meanwhile, I went over the plan for tomorrow in my head.

About half an hour later, I headed up to the Room of Requirement and knew Harry was under his invisibility cloak.

I heard a loud "OUCH!" and watched as Harry appeared, the invisibility cloak having slipped off of him.

"Harry?" A different, unexpected voice came and I hurried to see that Tonks was coming up the corridor. Harry had spun around and toppled over onto his ass and quickly scrambled to his feet, his cheeks flushing.

"What're you doing here?" Harry asked.

"I came to see Dumbledore." Tonks said.

She looked absolutely horrible and I closed my eyes as though I could block out the unhappy image. I preferred her with her bubblegum pink hair and cheery appearance. Now, she was thin, even thinner than dad. Her hair was hanging lank and loose.

"His office isn't here, it's round the other side of the castle, behind the gargoyle-" Harry said as though Tonks was stupid.

"I know. He's not here. Apparently he's gone away again."

"Has he? Hey- you don't know where he goes, I suppose?" Harry asked curiously. I snorted.

"No." Tonks said.

"What did you want to see him about?"

"Nothing in particular, I just thought he might know what's going on. . . I've heard rumors. . . people getting hurt. . ." she sent another look my way. I shook my head slightly.

"Yeah, I know, it's all been in the papers. That little kid trying to kill his-"

"The Prophet's often behind the times. You haven't had any letters from anyone in the Order recently?" Tonks asked, sound slightly desperate.

"No one from the Order writes to me anymore, not since Sirius-" Harry started and stopped when he saw Tonks eyes were filling up with tears, "I'm sorry. . . I mean. . . I miss him, as well. . ." He glanced at me like I was going to help him.

"What?" Tonks asked blankly. "Well. . . I'll see you around, Harry. Elizabeth. . ."

She turned around and went back the way she had come. Harry stared at me, "What was that about?"

I shook my head, "It's not really my place to say. She's worried about someone, though. She was hoping you'd have a letter from that person, that's all. I wouldn't know if I didn't have my powers so I don't feel comfortable intruding into her personal life without her permission, make sense?"

"Yes." Harry said. "But doesn't she work with Mad-eye and Kingsley?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. Neither of them have written me either. Dad can't write either, he's underground. See ya around Harry."

I headed away from the Room of Requirement and made my way down to the Great Hall and found that Ron and Hermione were already sitting down to lunch. Halfway through it, Harry came down and sat with us.

"I did it- well, kind of! I was supposed to be Apparating to outside Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop and I overshot it a bit, ended up near Scrivenshatft's, but at least I moved!" Ron said enthusiastically before Harry even sat down.

"Good one, How'd you do, Hermione?"

"Oh, she was perfect, obviously." Ron interrupted before Hermione could speak for herself, "Perfect deliberation, divination, and desperation or whatever the hell it is- we all went for a quick drink in the Three Broomsticks after and you should've heard Twycross going on about her- I'll be surprised if he doesn't pop the question soon- if he doesn't ask Eliza first that is and-"

"And what about you? Have you been up at the Room of Requirement all this time?" Hermione asked though I wasn't sure if she was asking me or Harry.

"Yep and guess who I ran into up there?" Harry asked, ladling his bowl with soup. "Tonks!"

"Tonks?" Ron and Hermione repeated together.

Harry explained what had been said and included my thoughts at the end of it before Ron said, "If you ask me, she's cracking up a bit. Losing her nerve after what happened at the Ministry."

I glared at him angrily.

"It's a bit odd. She's supposed to be guarding the school, why's she suddenly abandoning her post to come and see Dumbledore when he's not even here?" Hermione asked.

"She didn't know that he was gone." I suggested.

"I had a thought." Harry said. His voice sounded strange, almost hesitant, "You don't think she can have been. . . you know. . . in love with Sirius?"

I nearly spit out my soup while Hermione stared at him and asked, "What on earth makes you say that?"

"I dunno but she was nearly crying when I mentioned his name. . . and her Patronus is a big four-legged thing now. . . I wondered whether it hadn't become. . . you know. . . him. . ." Harry said awkwardly.

"She wasn't crying from you saying his name, she was crying because you haven't received any information that can help her." I said. "And neither have I and that's what worries her even more."

"But who is she worried about?" Ron asked.

"It's not my place to say." I said quickly. "I try not to intrude into other people's personal lives unless I don't like them, if I'm allowed to, or if you guys find out eventually anyways."

"It's a thought, the love thing." Hermione said to Harry. "But I still don't know why she'd be bursting into the castle to see Dumbledore, if that's really why she was here. . . it was more likely what Elizabeth was saying. After all, Dumbledore would be the one who would know everything."

"Goes back to what I said, doesn't it?" Ron asked, shoveling mashed potatoes messily into his mouth and I was so glad that I was having a girl and not a boy. Boys were so messy. "She's gone a bit funny. Lost her nerve. Women, they're easily upset." Ron finished to Harry.

I rolled my eyes and Hermione said, "And yet, I doubt you'd find a woman who sulked for half an hour because Madam Rosmerta didn't laugh at their joke about the hag, the Healer, and the Mimbulus mimbletonia."

Ron scowled.

The rest of us laughed.

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𝕴 𝖕𝖚𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖉 𝖔𝖚𝖙 the mirror again in the art room and called Kingsley's name. He appeared much quicker than he had previously.

"Everything alright?" He asked, his voice much deeper than before. He looked tired. He must be working a lot of hours.

I paused, wanting to be careful with how I was going to word my question, "Is. . .have you seen Tonks recently?"

"No. . .not too recently." He said carefully. "Why?"

"I'm- I'm worried about her. She came to the school a few days ago and she. . .well she seemed really upset. I think she wants to hear from someone and she hasn't heard from them. . .I think she wants to hear from Dad. Is he okay? Do you know?"

Kingsley looked slightly uncomfortable and he said, "Well. . .no, I don't know. Your father hasn't made contact with us in some time, though it is possible that he is contacting Dumbledore directly rather than through us. And I haven't seen Tonks since around Christmas. She's been staying on guard in Hogsmeade and I'm here at the Ministry."

I sighed, downcast.

"I'm sure your father is fine." Kingsley said in a reassuring voice.

"Oh, I am too." I said lightly. "I just wish I could help Tonks, that's all." I sighed again and then said, "Well, I'll let you get back to work. I just wanted to know if you'd heard anything. I'm just worried about her."

"I'll ask Mad-Eye for you." Kingsley said. "And I'll see if I can contact Tonks and help her out, alright?"

"Thanks Kingsley, you're the best." I said with a tired smile.

He smiled back and then I put the mirror upside down in my pocket, 'hanging up' on him. Then I made my way back out of the art studio and to the Gryffindor Common room.

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"𝕬𝖑𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙, 𝖜𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖉 to be careful." I whispered to Ginny as we made our way down the marble steps towards the Great Hall under the invisibility cloak.

"I know Eliza." Ginny said, sounding exasperated.

"You-"

"Stay under the cloak while you slip into the hall." Ginny said. "Elizabeth, I know."

"Right." I said, nervous. I wanted everything to go as planned, I wanted everything to be perfect. This surprise had to be just perfect.

We paused on the tenth stair as peeves glided by and then continued after he had passed. Ginny stopped near the doors to the Great Hall so that I could slip through the doors. Crouching down, I saw that no one was there and I hurried up to the teachers table and started laying out the portraits.

After that was done, I slipped back down the stairs and out of the Great Hall, leaving the doors closed behind me and hurried over to the notice board. Ginny had nearly posted all of the drawings. I helped her pin up the last couple of ones and then we headed back up the marble steps, retracing our path.

We split off, her under the invisibility cloak, and I as a cat. She went back to the Gryffindor Tower and I went back to Severus' room.

Severus was asleep when I arrived and I quickly climbed into bed, making sure I could be up early enough so that I could get to the Great Hall early.

The alarm went off and I quickly shut it off, rolling out of bed while Severus groaned. "Why are you up so early?" he muttered.

"Early day, lots of homework." I said cheerfully, grabbing new robes and my bag. "See you in class this afternoon." I kissed his cheek.

I ran out of the room and down the stairs before he could stop me, my heart pounding, and hurried into the Great Hall. No teachers were in there yet- breakfast didn't start for another seven minutes. I hurried up the stairs, double checking to make sure the portraits were still there. I also doubled checked to make sure that the portraits were the same one's I'd drawn and I hurried down to the Hufflepuff table, satisfied.

Ernie, Hannah, Susan, Justin, Zacharias, Rose and a few other Hufflepuff students were there. Trang sat at the Ravenclaw table and many Gryffindors were already sitting down.

Dumbledore entered first, striding to his spot. We all watched him as he stopped in front of his place. I quickly ducked my head, peeking up to see him pick up the drawing and laugh joyfully, his laugh filling the room.

His eyes flashed over to the Hufflepuff table and I flushed.

"This is great." Susan said, bouncing up and down on the bench.

Food appeared on the table and more students started to file in slowly. Some where chattering about the art, laughing, having spotted the notice board already. Others were confused, darting back out of the hall to take a look.

Other teachers came in and we watched as they picked the portraits up, either covering their faces in embarrassment or laughing. Severus stalked into the room and we all bent low over our breakfast, wondering how he'd react.

He held the portrait up to the light and then pulled out his wand and set the drawing on fire. Our table broke out laughing. Professor McGonagall started to scold Professor Snape.

"Think this was enough to throw them off for a bit?" I asked with a smile.

"Definitely." Susan said. "I can't wait for the real thing."

"I wonder which one they'll like better." Zacharias said.

"I think Professor Snape will like the other one better." Ernie said with a smirk. The entire Great Hall smelled like burnt parchment.

"Good thing we have extra copies." I said with a smile. "Hopefully he doesn't burn the one on the notice board too."

Professor Dumbledore was leaning over, showing Professor McGonagall his drawing. I was quite pleased with my doings.

"I should um go to Care of Magical Creatures Class." I said with a smile. I got up and quickly left the Great Hall. People started to clap as I dashed out the door. I blushed. There was a crowd of people standing outside the notice board, laughing and looking at the drawings.

I passed by quietly and quickly and felt liberated as I entered the fresh air. Hagrid joined me soon on the grounds. He had a piece of parchment in his hands and looked quite pleased.

"Yeh draw wonderfully Elizabeth." He complimented, opening his cabin door and putting the drawing on his table before exiting and coming over to where I was standing, "My favorite was Professor Dumbledore's."

I grinned. "That one did come out good, didn't it?"

Throughout the rest of the day, there were compliments from students and teachers alike. Professor McGonagall had put hers up on the wall. Of course, there were complaints that the drawings didn't move, but the complaints didn't bother me. They didn't seem to bother the Professors either.

The ones that drew the most laughs were Professor Flitwick's and Professor Dumbledore's because they were the most unusual.

What surprised me the most was when Filch came up to me and actually shook my hand before moving past. Any student that saw that thought they were dreaming, and the story spread around quickly, though never talked about in Filch's presence.

However, the most talked about drawing was Professor Snape's. Unbeknownst to him, there was a duplicate drawing on the notice board that he hadn't burned yet, and it was the drawing that people were secretly duplicating and stuffing into binders.

"The thing is," Luna chirped at lunch, sitting with us along with a few Gryffindors and Trang at the Hufflepuff table. "No one has ever seen Professor Snape smile but you make it look so natural."

"Yet!" Zacharias interjected, "It's disturbing at the same time because he never smiles."

"Did you all duplicate that drawing?" I asked, amused.

"Yes." Came about seven different voices.

I snorted.

I seemed to earn quite a few points for Hufflepuff that day too, just random things.

It was one of the best days of my life. 

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[braveclementine]

Chapter 16

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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𝕴 𝖜𝖔𝖐𝖊 𝖚𝖕 with a headache. Judging by the look on Severus' face, he had a headache too.

"That was horrible." I muttered, gingerly touching my forehead and noticed my fingers were freezing cold.

"But a great story." Severus muttered, staggering out of bed, "I feel like I have a hangover."

"You've been drunk before?" I asked, momentarily distracted from the pounding headache.

"A few times many years ago." Severus muttered, pulling out a bottle of something and downing half of it.

"Can I have any of that?" I asked, hoping the answer was yes.

"Small dose." Severus said, pouring the liquid into a teacup and handing it over to me.

"You have a tea set?" I asked, taking the cup in amusement before downing the drink. Slowly, the headache started to dissipate, but obviously much slower than Severus' had gone.

"I don't have a 'tea set'. I just have a few cups, alright?" Severus asked grumpily.

I grinned, setting the cup down and getting dressed. "Alright, alright, no reason to get snippy with me!"

Severus groaned, wrenching the curtains closed, the bright light receded from the room.

"What was the story about last night?" I asked curiously. "I remember something about keys but everything else is just a blur."

"Seriously?" Severus asked, his voice laced with surprise.

"Yes. . ." I said slowly, pulling on my pants and then sitting down on the bed to pull on shoes and socks.

"Huh." Severus said. "Well, I remember it in great detail."

"Great!" I said brightly, grabbing my tie off of the chair and looked in the mirror, attempting to tie it properly and getting the knot mixed up. "You can tell me about it after school ends."

"Here." Severus said, turning me around and fixed my tie for me. He pulled the tie up tight, pulling me into a kiss.

"Thanks." I said, grabbing my school bag, dumping out yesterdays books and putting todays in. I hesitated, my Rune book in my hand and asked, "What day is it again?"

Severus looked at the clock like that was supposed to help and said, "Tuesday."

"Oh yes, that's right." I muttered and tossed the Rune book aside and picked up Defense Against the Dark Arts instead.

The week passed and I had almost no time to work on the end of the year drawing because of homework, Quidditch, and Severus, though not necessarily all in that same order.

Saturday afternoon, I went down to Firenze's room. I hadn't been there in a few weeks. I found that our conversations, while enlightening, always depressed me because I wished he could be in the forest instead of here.

"Ah, Elizabeth Kane." Came the familiar greeting, "It's been a while."

"I apologize." I said, sitting down on a rock.

"No need, no need, you've been quite busy, or so the stars have said." Firenze said in that soft, careful, yet commanding tone that he used during class.

"Oh?" I questioned, smiling. "What have the stars said?"

"Something about art, homework, love, Quidditch." Firenze said with a teasing smile. I knew he was just reciting the things of a student's life. "Now come, tell me what's happened in more detail than the stars."

He produced a tea set from somewhere with already hot water and teabags. I was quite surprised and it showed on my face because he chuckled, "Professor Dumbledore gave it to me. He said that I might enjoy the taste of fine British tea though not a usual taste for my kind."

"And how do you like it?" I asked, taking a cup and taking a sip. It was warm, calming and soothed my upset stomach.

"It's quite unique." Firenze said though that wasn't really a yes or no answer. "How are you?"

I thought about the question for a moment. Firenze was unlike anyone else here. A confidante, if you will. Nothing I said to him would reach anyone else's ears but his own.

"Strange." I finally said, "perhaps a bit like an outcast almost."

Firenze did not say anything and so I continued.

"I feel. . . older almost. More mature. All the problems that seem to go on around me, around my friends, they seem childish. I feel as though I'm in my twenties or thirties rather than my teens." I sighed, clutching my hands around the hot cup. "I don't feel like I belong, you know? Like I should be a Professor or something of that nature rather than a student. I wonder if this is how you or dad feels." I tacked on at the end before inhaling a long draft of tea.

Firenze looked at me thoughtfully with his sapphire eyes. "Do you think that perhaps you feel older because you are going to have a child?"

I choked on my tea. "W-what?" I sputtered after I managed to breathe again.

Firenze smiled, waving his hand and the trees rustled, revealing stars. "It is always night here, but the stars are the same as the ones outside and they share the same information."

I glared at him.

"You do not think, perhaps," he said with a smile, "That the stars would tell me such mundane things?"

"I think it's some horsey power you have." I jabbed back. "Only explanation."

Firenze chuckled, "Fiery today aren't you."

I drank some more tea, trying to keep a dignified posture.

Firenze laughed more freely, "Fair enough." He flashed his brilliant teeth. "I could just tell you were pregnant. A. . . what did you call it? Horsey power?"

I flushed, "I apologize for being so inconsiderate."

"Apology accepted." Firenze said, sounding amused. "But considering childbirth is a part of nature and Centaurs keep the balance of nature, it is in our ancestry that we know about childbirth. And you, Elizabeth Kane, have a child growing inside of you."

"Yes." I said, slightly reluctantly. "Yes, I do."

"And you're married." Firenze said, pointing to the nearly invisible ring on my finger.

I lifted my left hand. The ring never left it, but I had put a camouflaging spell on it so it blended in with its surroundings. As I said, nearly invisible.

"Yes." I said, blushing slightly.

"With a Professor?" Firenze asked, not as amused this time.

"Three for three," I muttered.

"What I can't understand is why." Firenze said and he sounded legitimately frustrated.

"It was something I foresaw." I said after a long moment of silence. "I don't foresee things about myself and it was the one and only thing that I foresaw."

"I see." Firenze said, and he seemed to relax, and sipped some of his own tea.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a moment and then he asked, "Which Professor?"

I blushed bright red, quickly racking my brain to think of all the possible candidates for this position that Firenze was thinking over. Dumbledore, Slughorn, Snape, Flitwick, Hagrid, possibly Filch, and then himself. He could cross out himself and Dumbledore and that left everyone in between.

I was momentarily fascinated with the idea of Hagrid (not because I liked him in that way, but simply because it was a hilarious image) and then said with slight embarrassment, "Severus Snape."

Firenze's eyes did not judge, but simply seemed to accept this fact without question, and he merely said, "An interesting choice, but perhaps one that will change the future."

"Pardon?" I asked.

Firenze looked at me with a measured gaze. "Professor Snape has never been known for his kindness or better emotions. He is a considered cruel, calculating, cold, heart-less, ruthless, though perhaps a bit warmer towards his house students. Perhaps you will simply bring out the better emotions in him, the ones that he hides."

I wanted to change the subject and so I said, "I drew something for you, but I'm afraid that it could possibly be offensive."

Firenze raised a delicate eyebrow. "Well, let's see it and I shall judge."

I quickly rummaged in my bag for my artpad and flipped to somewhere in the middle of the pad. I had drawn Firenze how I imagined he would look with more human eyes and also, a human body. He was wearing robes of sapphire blue and his eyes weren't quite sapphire blue, but rather a more indigo color. But his hair and colouring stayed the same. (Yes, this drawing was coloured).

But I had remembered last year or the year before, thinking of how he looked like one of the surfer boys in an American magazine. So, I had drawn a second drawing. His torso was naked and he was wearing swim trunks of sapphire blue color. His hair was slicked back, his eyes glimmering, and had a warm smile on his face. A surfboard was under his arm, a light blue color with a Centaur as the mascot painted in the middle of the surfboard.

I handed it over to him and he took one look at it and let out a delightful laugh, "You are quite ingenious Elizabeth Kane."

"You like it?" I asked hesitantly, but pleased.

"Quite." Firenze said, his eyes dancing.

"Then flip to the next one." I said eagerly, for I had drawn myself as a Centaur.

He flipped to the next one and laughed again, taking in the pale legs and the long red-brown hair, reaching almost the forest floor. I had drawn the bow and arrows Firenze had given me for Christmas in my hands and strung about my back. I had changed my eyes to green in the drawing, making me look much more like Lily than myself.

"This one is good." He said, turning it back to me. "However, I think you should have stayed with your own eyes."

"I'll keep that in mind." I said with a small smile, sliding the artpad back into the bag.

We spent much of the day chatting and then I left so that I could catch dinner with the Hufflepuffs.

"We have a problem!" Susan fretted as we sat down at the table.

"What?" I asked, looking between everyone.

"Well," Ernie started, "Luna's Quidditch commentary got everyone a bit stirred up about what you're doing for the teachers."

"The teachers are starting to suspect something." Susan fretted, tearing apart a chicken sandwich instead of eating it.

I stared at them for a moment, searching for ideas. Of course, I needed a place that I could draw and create art in peace. But the art classroom wasn't always empty and there wasn't really anywhere in there that I could keep my drawings without hoping that someone wouldn't come across them.

Besides, I needed more art utensils than what was in the art room. But what kind of room would have everything I needed? I mean, I would have to have a room designed by my own intentions. I froze. That was it! "I have an idea!"

"What?" Ernie, Justin, and Susan all asked while Rose swallowed a piece of sandwich whole in order to choke out, "Is it a g-good one?"

"Yes." I said, grinning. I looked up at the table and could've sworn that multiple Professors looked away from me. So they were suspecting something. "Give me a moment."

I dashed to the Gryffindor table where Hermione, Ron, and Harry were sitting.

"Hey Elizabeth!" Hermione said brightly.

"Harry," I said with no salutations. "I need you to secure the room of Requirement tomorrow around eleven o'clock."

"Why?" Ron asked, his mouth full of chicken.

"Is it about Malfoy?" Harry asked immediately.

I shook my head. "No, I need it for my own purposes. But I won't be able to use the room if D- if anyone is in the room."

"Okay." Harry said, seeming a bit put out.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked.

"If you want, you guys can come in with me." I said, grinning. "I have a lot of work I'll need to do and I think I'll need your help anyways Hermione. Hopefully, you know a good duplicating charm?"

"Yes-" Hermione said but I was already up and hurrying back to the Hufflepuff table. We all put our heads together and I whispered out where we were meeting. But I left all of them in the dark about what the secret was.

That night, Severus recited the story of the key collector back to me. As he spoke, the images and the story came back to me, piece by piece, but it didn't seem to hold the same. . . essence than when I had told it. I didn't say this though.

"So what's going on with you and your Hufflepuff friends." Severus asked after he was done telling the story. "Is Miss Lovegood right? Are you working on something for the teachers?"

"None of your business." I said teasingly.

"I think it is." Severus said, sweeping his hair back dramatically.

I grinned but kept my lips closed, something that seemed to irritate him more than he let on. He hated secrets. Especially when I was the one that was keeping secrets from him.

The next day, I slept in late and then snuck off the room of requirement with my bag of art supplies. I had also grabbed my secret drawings from the drawer of the Hufflepuff girls' dorm.

Harry was already there, informing me that no one was in the room. I quickly walked back and forth three times thinking, 'I need an art studio, I need an art studio, I need an art Studio.'

When I opened my eyes, stopping in front of the blank wall, there was now a door. I grabbed the handle, opening it and Harry followed me inside before saying, "Whoa."

I had to agree, though I didn't voice it. The walls were pale pink in color and at the far end there were large windows, something I had seen in a movie. There were no actual decorations on the walls except for nails and other hanging appliances. There were also blank canvases that I could paint on.

There were multiple desks, powder blue in color with white chairs sitting in front of them. On the desks were cups filled with pens and other utensils. There were also potted plants in the corners and on some of the desks and a few hanging from the ceiling. But that was, of course, just a Hufflepuff touch.

There were thousands of art easels (though perhaps a few more or less of that number) with nothing on them. There were also boards that I could clip art too. There were ladders attached to the walls and a second floor, a.... what was that word? Loft! Yes, it was like a loft. Perhaps to overlook the artwork done below or perhaps it was to do more work up there.

Along one wall was a bookshelf but instead of being filled with books, there were cans and boxes with labels on the outside: Pencils, pens, quills, scissors, glue, sharpies, etc. Anything and everything that could be used to create art. Paint was on a different shelf, every color imaginable there and I was sure that if I was missing a color, I could simply think of needing it and it would appear.

I wondered if I would ever leave.

"Oh my gosh!" A more girly voice said and I turned to see that Hermione, Ginny, and Ron had entered the room. Harry was over by the windows, looking out. I wondered what the view was.

"Eliza, this is lovely." Ginny said.

"Isn't it?" I asked with pride. Funny feeling, I hadn't done anything except wish for it. I hurried up the ladder, wanting to take a look around the loft.

There were comfy couches up here and small tables. There was real art up here, probably replicas, of the Mona Lisa, The Starry Night, The Last Supper, The Birth of Venus, American Gothic, The Swing, and one of my personal favorites: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. I noticed that the same art piece that Fred had sent me for my thirteenth birthday from Egypt was there too, but I did not know the name of the piece.

The door opened again and walked in Ernie, Justin, Zacharias, Rose, Susan, Hannah, and Trang.

They all gaped and threw out various comments about how wonderful or lovely or amazing the room was though admittedly, the boys showed less interest than the girls.

We all gathered up in the loft, sitting on the couches and chairs.

"But what are we doing here?" Ernie finally asked.

"So." I started, "Luna spilled that there was something secret going on for the teacher's." I looked around at everyone but no one seemed to know anything. It was possible, however, that Luna had guessed or perhaps overheard. While different, Luna sometimes knew more than she let on. "Anyways." I said, pulling out the artpad that I had been saving as a secret. "I thought we might throw out a Trojan horse."

Only Hermione, Trang, and Justin seemed to understand what I was saying.

"Er, what's a Trojan Horse?" Ron asked.

"Brilliant!" Hermione asked cheerfully. "Oh I completely understand."

"You would." Ernie said pompously, "but the rest of us have no idea what she's talking about."

"The Trojan horse was seemingly a peace treaty between two warring civilizations." I said. "It was a large wooden horse that was left in front of the gates of one of the protected cities. The city believed it to be a peace offering and brought it in through the gates. However, once the horse was brought in and the village went to sleep, a secret opening in the horse opened and the soldiers leapt from the horse and killed everyone."

The others didn't seem to have any idea where this was going, including Justin. Hermione however, was grinning ear to ear.

"But how does that help?" Rose asked, looking the most confused out of them.

"Because," Hermione answered before I could, "If Elizabeth does something different than what was planned, something smaller, the teachers will think that's what was supposed to happen. Then, she'll pull out the real surprise at the end of term."

"Perhaps I should've used the term red herring." I suggested delicately.

Now everyone was on board.

"Brilliant." Ernie said, "And what do you have planned?"

I grinned, carefully pulling out pieces of artwork and laying them down on the table in front of everyone.

They all stared at them for a moment, silent, pondering, and I grinned. They were a bit disconcerting when first looking at them.

"These. . ." Ginny said, mouthing something afterwards.

"Elizabeth, this is. . . These are brilliant." Hermione said.

"Disconcerting was the word I was going to use." Zacharias said honestly, "I mean look at this." He turned the drawing he had picked up around and showed what was on the paper.

It was a drawing of Professor Flitwick at an average height of 5'8".

"They're all like that." I explained.

Dumbledore with a short beard and hair. McGonagall with long flowing hair. Snape smiling. Hagrid with a normal physique. Firenze as a human with a surfboard under his arm. Trelawney with sleek hair and missing the bug eyes, normal glasses, not looking crazy. Sprout wearing the finest clothes in the world and a bit slighter than normal. Slughorn with a full head of hair and wearing a pineapple costume. Madam Hooch with a shoulder length hair instead of the spikes she wore and looking less like a bird than usual. Filch looking kind and even handsome, smiling with a nice Mrs. Norris in his arms.

"They'll all get a laugh out of this." Justin said, putting the short haired Dumbledore on the table.

"Professor Snape might murder you if he sees this." Susan said grinning.

I chuckled. "I figured we could put their own in their place for breakfast, you know? Sometime after dinner and before breakfast. Harry can probably help me out with that. And then I need duplicates of these, two of each. One to each to pin up on the notice board and then one of each to keep in case they're, you know, set on fire by Professor Snape or something."

"We should get to breakfast extremely early so we can see their reactions." Trang said, seemingly unable to take her eyes off of the Professor Trelawney drawing.

"Agreed." Justin said. "When are you going to put these out?"

"Next week?" I questioned.

"Perfect." Susan said.

"We'll have to plan it out perfectly." I murmured softly.

We worked out some details and then everyone left, leaving me in the room by myself. I loved the place, more than I'd ever loved anything at Hogwarts.

I got to work, making it like home. I clipped my secret drawings up on one of the boards, all the rooms on one side, the people on the other, and the one that made the key room story in the middle.

Then, I laid out all the funny Professor drawings on one of the tables.

I scattered other drawings on boards, on walls, in frames, one tables and chairs and shelves.

I pulled down a piece of canvas off the wall and brought it to an art easel. I got to work, though drawing on a canvas is harder than it would seem. It is not smooth like paper though it is not exactly rough either.

I painted a seashore, or at least: what I thought a seashore looked like.

I hung the painting up on a wall, wondering how much time had gone by. Time was not a factor in here, nor was there a clock. But I did not want a clock.

I wondered if I was an artist or a healer or a potioneer or an auror. I had considered art a hobby until now. Now, my drawings were good enough to bring in money, to make people laugh, to make people see stories. Could that be a job?

I couldn't see it paying well enough to live on though. And I certainly hadn't given up the dream of healing werewolves. Art could stay a hobby.

I found special paper and realized that it was for making stained glass art and I started on that project, working (unknowingly) late into the night.

I finally attached the papers to the windows and as light streamed it, it refracted, casting different colors down on the ground.

I left, finding it strange that the castle was so dark and it hit me that the sun had probably set already. I hurried to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, dodging into shadows as teachers patrolled nearby along with Head students and prefects.

I would've turned into a cat if I hadn't been carrying my bag. Perhaps I should've left it in the art studio with everything else.

I did eventually make it to the office and when I opened the door, Severus was up, working on something at his desk. He looked up in momentary surprise and then asked, "Where have you been?"

"What time is it?" I countered.

"Near one in the morning." Severus said, putting his quill down and standing up, "Where have you been?"

"The art studio." I said, my joy expanding again.

"Art studio?" Severus asked with a frown.

"Room of requirement." I explained. "I turned it into an art studio. At least, when I'm in there."

"And there's no clock in there?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow, walking around the room extinguishing the candles.

"Why would an artist want a clock to constantly look at?" I asked, setting my bag down in the corner and quickly ripping off my clothes so I could put pajamas on and fall asleep. The earlier I woke up, the sooner I could go back to the art studio.

"To not be late." Severus said, wrapping his arms around me as I reached for the pajamas.

"Am I late?" I asked in mock surprise, falling into the bed.

Severus kissed me in response, but we didn't stay up late and went to bed very soon after.

The next morning, I was up and at the art studio. My hair was pulled back in a bandana. I was wearing long sleeves and short sleeved, checkered shirt. I had an art palette in one hand and a brush in the other, contemplating my newest drawing and where to paint.

"Morning." Trang said with a yawn, bringing in a silver tray that was filled with pastries in one hand and a tray with drinks in another.

"Morning." I said brightly, starting on the grays wings before working my way towards yellow eyes. "What's that." I gestured aimlessly to the trays.

"Food." Trang stated, putting them down on a nearby table that wasn't covered in papers. "I can't believe you drew all these."

"They build up after the years." I said slowly, painting a sun in delicately.

"Are you even doing homework anymore?" Trang asked, though she sounded amused.

"I finished all of it on Friday night so that I could spend the weekend here." I put the palette and brush down and wiped my hands on a cloth. "You know, you can paint or decorate or whatever too if you want. It's not just my studio."

"Pretty sure it is." Trang said, sitting down on the table.

"But it's not." I said, grabbing a muffin. "You're my best friend and you are definitely a part of this, alright? If you don't want to paint- sculpt. There's lots of pottery things over there. There's stained glass art, there's crafts, and metal for something I'm not sure. Even photography." I motioned to a few cameras on the top shelf. "Technically, photography is an art, though an imprecise branch. But if you want a dark room for photography, I can create it."

"I didn't realize you knew so much about art." Trang said. "You never showed interest as a kid."

"I was too worried about grades." I said, picking up a tray and carrying it up to the loft. Trang followed with the other.

We set the trays down on a coffee table and settled into the couch.

After eating in silence Trang voiced something I had been thinking about yesterday, "Why don't you make this your career after school?"

"Not enough money in it." I said, putting down the muffin wrapper. "I have to think logically, you know? Besides, art comes second to helping people. I need a real career. This will just be a side thing if I decide to continue with it."

More silence and then, "You know, it hardly even feels like we're in a magic school right now." Trang said. "I mean, look out the windows. We're somewhere in Britain. We've both graduated and we're living here in the loft. We live here. We leave for work- well I do. But this is your life, your art is your life."

"But it's not." I said. "We're in a magic school. We're going to leave for bed tonight and we're going to wake up and return to the real world. We're going to learn about potions and herbology and magical creatures and charms."

"You know." Trang said very softly. "This. This was the real world to me."

And here it was, the bomb.

"You regret coming." I stated.

"Yes." Trang said softly.

Awkward silence.

"Why are you staying?" I asked.

"Because I have to." Trang said in a solid voice. "Because leaving means I gave up. Leaving means I'll never be able to defend myself from Death Eaters or Voldemort or just bullies. Besides, I have Oliver to think about and if we do end up together, I want to be just as capable with magic as he is."

I didn't want to have this conversation. "Things would've been easier if I'd never told you, huh?"

Trang snorted, "I always knew, Elizabeth. I was the one who searched the house and I was the one who decided to come here."

"And now you regret it." I stated again, feeling dead inside. The art studio suddenly didn't seem as bright and friendly as it had before. It felt bare, open, cold.

Maybe Trang felt it too because she stood up and said, "I regret it, yes, but I also don't regret it, Elizabeth. If I stay in the real part of the school, the part that doesn't become imagination, then I can remember why I'm here: because I always wanted to be part of this world. But if I come in here, someplace that's so normal to the me, then I lose that."

"Okay." I said, my throat tightening.

Trang headed down the ladder, her Ravenclaw robes flowing behind her and she strode to the door.

"Hey!" I called as she put her hand on the knob. "This isn't. . . this isn't a good-bye, is it?"

She smiled up at me and shook her head but said nothing and left the room, leaving me standing there.

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𝕴 𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖓𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖔 Severus' room earlier than planned. He could tell there was something off with me and he said nothing. He simply put his arms around me, sitting us on the bed and let me stay there in comfort. I fell asleep before I really had a chance to say anything.

Time passed. I returned the art room on weekends though I postponed the teacher's portraits for the time being. When Trang heard, she came to see me in the library.

"E-"

"No." I said before she even said anything. "I didn't postpone the teacher's portraits because of our conversation."

It was a lie and a big one and she saw right through it. "Of course it was. You feel that I put you down. You're starting to hate the art studio, you think we're losing our friendship, you think that I hate the magical world, and you think that if you give up art then you'll gain back a friendship that you never lost."

"When did you take psychology?" I muttered, trying to concentrate on Transfiguration text.

"Sophomore year first term." Trang recited, "But that's beside the point. I wasn't putting you or the magical world down, and we certainly haven't lost our friendship, Lizzy."

I looked at her then, really looked at her. She hadn't called me Lizzy since we were kids. She had dark circles under her eyes and she was yellower than before. "I was just saying that I can't be in the magical world and have somewhere completely mundane inside of it, and I can't be in the mundane world and have something magical inside of it. All I was saying was that I wasn't going to be doing anything in your art studio."

"Our." I muttered automatically.

"Our art studio." Trang relented.

"I understand." I muttered, returning to the Transfiguration book.

"Good." Trang said. "Then you'll put out the portraits this weekend?"

I sighed. "Sure, sure, why not?"

"I see no reason why not." Trang said brightly and she got up, practically dancing out of the library. I looked after her with resentment and something that might've been amusement, but I was to put out to really tap into that better emotion.

I had skipped apparition lessons these past Saturdays and I was informed by a gleeful Hermione that she had managed to apparate twice now. I congratulated her genially and returned to my rune texts. Good, now she could stop being so rude because I apparated before her.

There was a test date on the twenty-first of April and I was starting to see what Trang meant by the art studio. It felt as though I was entering a different world when I left it. Like I had been taken out of time and inserted back in.

I also wondered if it would feel less like that if there were more students in the art studio. If more students participated in art crafts. I wasn't sure how many people I wanted in there though or who would even be interested. None of my friends were very craftmanshipy.

Sunday evening, I headed to the Gryffindor common room with Ron, Hermione, and Harry as we were all working on dementor essays and though I had finished mine, I felt that tonight was an important night and though I'd foreseen it, I couldn't remember the entire thing.

"You won't find anything in there." Hermione said as the four of us sat around the fireplace. I remembered sitting here before, waiting for Sirius's head to pop into the fire. Tears welled up in my eyes and I quickly wiped them on my robes.

"Don't start, Hermione. If it hadn't been for the Prince, Ron wouldn't be sitting here now." Harry said, flipping through his potions book.

"He would if you'd just listened to Snape in our first year." Hermione said in a dismissive way. I avoided Harry's eyes.

"You disagreed with Professor Snape's way of dealing with dementors?" I asked as I took a quick glance at Harry's essay.

"Yes." Harry said, not looking up from the potions book. "He says it's a spell but I said that there's more too it. More emotion needed to conjure the spell."

"I'm telling you, the stupid Prince isn't going to be able to help you with this, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed louder as though Harry was going to listen to her. "There's only one way to force someone to do what you want, and that's the Imperius Curse, which is illegal-"

"Yeah, I know that, thanks. That's why I'm looking for something different. Dumbledore says Veritaserum won't do it, but there might be something else, a potion or a spell. . ." Harry said.

"You're going about it the wrong way." Hermione said. "Only you can get the memory, Dumbledore says. That must mean you can persuade Slughorn where other people can't. It's not a question of slipping him a potion, anyone could do that-"

"How d'you spell 'belligerent'? It can't be B-U-M" Ron interrupted suddenly.

"No, it isn't." Hermione said, taking Ron's essay from him. "And 'augury' doesn't being with O-R-G either. What kind of quill are you using?"

"It's one of Fred and George's Spell-Check ones. . . but I think the charm must be wearing off. . ." Ron muttered.

"Yes, it must, because we were asked how we'd deal with dementors, not 'Dugbogs,' and I don't remember you changing your name to 'Roonil Wzlib' either."

I snorted unkindly.

"Ah no! Don't say I'll have to write the whole thing out again!" Ron cried, exasperated and staring at the paper as though it had offended his mother.

"Why aren't you in the art studio tonight?" Harry asked while Hermione told Ron that his essay could be fixed.

I shrugged, "Change of scenery. I haven't been here since. . ." I broke off considering the last time I'd been here it had been to talk to Sirius. ". . .since last year." I finished feebly.

"I won't. Or maybe I will. . . then she'll ditch me. . ." Ron was saying now.

"Why don't you ditch her if you want to finish it?" Harry asked, looking away from me.

"You haven't ever chucked anyone, have you?" Ron asked, "You and Cho just-"

"Sort of fell apart, yeah." Harry said.

"Wish that would happen with me and Lavender, but the more I hint I want to finish it, the tighter she holds on. It's like going out with the giant squid." Ron said in a depressed voice. I closed my eyes, knowing the crack of apparition would wake me up.

I woke up a bit sooner than that as Seamus cursed both Professor Snape and his ridiculous essay. I was going to fall back asleep as the crackling fire and scratching quills were the only thing to hear and they were quite sleep inducing noises when there was a loud Crack.

Hermione shrieked and Ron shouted, throwing his ink everywhere. Most of it splattered onto his essay but some of it hit my face and I grimaced, sitting up and wiping it away.

"Kreacher!" Harry proclaimed.

"Master said he wanted regular reports on what the Malfoy boy is doing, so Kreacher has come to give-"

Crack.

Dobby appeared alongside Kreacher. "Dobby has been helping too, Harry Potter! And Kreacher ought to tell Dobby when he is coming to see Harry Potter so they can make their reports together!" He threw Kreacher a resentful look.

My day brightened considerably, seeing Dobby. "Hey Dobby!"

"Elizabeth Kane!" Dobby squeaked shaking my hand in both of his. "How very good to see you."

"What is this? What's going on, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking between the elves, Harry, and me. (Cause you know, I have all the answers).

"Well. . . they've been following Malfoy for me." Harry said.

"Night and day." Kreacher croaked out, looking incredibly resentful.

"Dobby has not slept for a week Harry Potter!" Dobby said proudly and it was quite evident from the way he swayed while standing.

"You haven't slept, Dobby? But surely, Harry, you didn't tell him not to-" Hermione started.

"No, of course I didn't. Dobby, you can sleep, all right? But has either of you found out anything?" Harry said quickly.

"Master Malfoy moves with a nobility that befits his pure blood. His features recall the fine bones of my mistress and his manners are those of-" Kreacher started.

"Draco Malfoy is a bad boy! A bad boy who-who-" Dobby started and I reached out and grabbed the back of Dobby's shirt before he tried diving into the fire. "Thank you Elizabeth Kane. Dobby still finds it difficult to speak ill of his old masters. . ."

I let him go, sure that Harry would catch him if he ran. "But Kreacher should know that Draco Malfoy is not a good master to a house-elf!"

"Yeah, we don't' need to hear about you being in love with Malfoy. Let's fast forward to where he's actually been going." Harry said.

Kreacher bowed though he looked furious and said, "Master Malfoy eats in the Great Hall, he sleeps in a dormitory in the dungeons, he attends his classes in a variety of-"

I nearly snorted with humor though Harry wasn't in such a laughable mood. "Dobby, you tell me. Has he been going anywhere he shouldn't have?"

"Harry Potter, sir, the Malfoy boy is breaking no rules that Dobby can discover, but is still keen to avoid detection. He has been making regular visits to the seventh floor with a variety of other students, who keep watch for him while he enters-"

"The Room of Requirement!" Harry exclaimed, smacking himself hard in the face with the potions book and Dobby gave a jump of shock. "That's where he's been sneaking off to! That's where he's doing. . . whatever he's doing! And I bet that's why he's been disappearing off the map- come to think of it, I've never seen the Room of Requirement on there!"

"Maybe the Marauders never knew the room was there," Ron suggested.

"Possible," I interjected, trying to remember last week. Hadn't I said that Draco had been in the Room of Requirement? Had Harry forgotten? Or had I not made myself clear? I couldn't remember, "I'll ask dad, but I think it's more likely the rooms unplottable."

"Dobby, have you managed to get in to have a look at what Malfoys' doing?" Harry asked eagerly.

"No, Harry Potter, that is impossible." Dobby said.

"No, it's not. Malfoy got into our headquarters there last year, so I'll be able to get in and spy on him, no problem."

"No you won't." I said though I knew Hermione had opened her mouth to answer, "Malfoy knew what our meetings were about. You don't know what Draco's doing, therefore, you won't be able to think the proper requirement to get in."

"There'll be a way around that. You've done brilliantly, Dobby." Harry said, dismissing my facts because of his wishes.

"Yes, Dobby, brilliant." I seconded.

"Kreacher's done well, too." Hermione said kindly.

"The Mudblood is speaking to Kreacher, Kreacher will pretend he cannot hear-"

"Get out of it." Harry snapped. Kreacher disapparated after one last bow. "You'd better go and get some sleep too, Dobby."

"Thank you, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby said, much happier than Kreacher and disapparated with another crack.

"How good's this?" Harry asked happily. "We know where Malfoy's going! We've got him cornered now!"

I sighed loudly.

"Yeah, it's great." Ron said with as much enthusiasm as Kreacher.

Hermione pulled Ron's inked up essay towards her, siphoning the ink away back into the bottle. "But what's all this about him going up there with a 'variety of students'? How many people are in on it? You wouldn't think he'd trust lots of them to know what he's doing. . . ?"

"Because it's Crabbe and Goyle." I stated, finally deciding it was time to put my visions to use. "Remember in our first potions lesson? One of the potions in the cauldrons was Polyjuice potion. If Crabbe and Goyle were standing around all the time, people would get suspicious. But if it's a variety of students, especially little girls as we've been seeing, it wouldn't be nearly as suspicious."

"Of course!" Harry said. "Brilliant Elizabeth!"

"So that little girl who scales I repaired?" Hermione asked in an almost awed voice.

"Yeah, of course. Of course!" Harry exclaimed. "Malfoy must've been inside the room at the time, so she- what am I talking about? - he dropped the scales to tell Malfoy not to come out, because there was someone there! And there was the girl who dropped the toadspawn too! We've been walking past him all the time and not realizing it!"

"He's got Crabbe and Goyle transforming into girls?" Ron asked, laughing. "Blimey. . . No wonder they don't look too happy these days. . . I'm surprised they don't' tell him to stuff it."

"Well, they wouldn't, would they, if he's shown them his Dark Mark?" Harry asked.

"Hmmm. . . the Dark Mark we don't know exists." Hermione said, rolling up the essay and handing it to Ron.

"It does." I stated. "Voldemort plans on Draco failing so that he can kill his entire family. It's just punishment for Lucius Malfoy messing up so terribly at the Ministry, that's all."

"It doesn't matter." Hermione said, standing up and even though I wasn't sharing all my information with them, I still thought her view was quite a peculiar one in this case. "I still don't' think you'll be able to get into the Room of Requirement without knowing what's there first. And I don't think you should forget what you're supposed to be concentrating on is getting that memory from Slughorn. Good night."

She made her way up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. I stood too, stretching for a second and then said. "Good night boys." I made my way out the Gryffindor portrait hole before turning into a cat and walking freely through the halls to Severus' office.

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[braveclementine]

Chapter 15

Warnings: 18+ readers only

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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"𝖂𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖉𝖎𝖉 𝖞𝖔𝖚 and Dumbledore argue about?" I demanded as I got ready for the day. Severus yawned, running a hand through his unkempt hair and waved his wand so that the shades opened, light streaming into the windows.

I slipped out of bed, stretching. Severus' shirt was very warm and I didn't feel like getting out of it.

"It was nothing." Severus said, throwing his nightgown into his wardrobe and pulling on his uniform black robes. My eyes flicked from his body to my bag where my secret drawing was being kept.

"Uh huh." I said, unconvinced.

"Don't you already know anyways?" Severus asked, disgruntled.

"No." I replied honestly. "Well, I know that you argued about Dumbledore taking too much for granted and also not wanting to do something anymore."

"I don't want to kill him." Severus said.

"You want Draco to kill him?" I asked in slight disbelief. "You know Dumbledore is trying to save Draco's soul."

"And what about my soul?" Severus asked fiercely. "Apparently it means nothing to Dumbledore!"

I sucked in my cheeks. I shouldn't have asked. I should've let it stay between Dumbledore and Severus. Why had I intervened?

I turned away, grabbing my bag, switching out Friday's books with Monday's books. I hated that it was going to be so cold during Care of Magical Creatures class. But I couldn't skip, not with me being the only student in the class.

I heard Severus grumbling behind me and I said, "I think all this business about souls is stupid."

He didn't answer,

"Your killing him out of mercy." I replied. "And to show your last act of loyalty. That you were always Dumbledore's and never Vol-"

"Don't say his name Elizabeth." Severus said sharply.

Now I said nothing.

Severus sighed, sounding frustrated and knelt behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, "Sorry." he muttered.

"You should be used to it." I muttered, "Dumbledore uses his name."

"Dumbledore is a great wizard." Severus argued, "The only one the Dark Lord fears."

"Well what would you want me to call him?" I said, very close to snapping at him as I stood up, hoisting the bag onto my shoulder.

"Anything else." Severus said.

I tried not to grin as I turned around, picking up my quill and said, "Then the last act of loyalty is killing Dumbledore, showing that you were always Dumbledore's and never anything else's."

There was a bit of awkward silence and I figured I was going to leave now when Severus grabbed me by the shoulders, spinning me around, and kissing me fiercely, "Smartass." He whispered through our lips, moving one hand down to my ass to smack it lightly.

I laughed lightly, kissing him back hungrily. I'd always thought that being in love, you eventually got tired of each others' presence. Perhaps we just hadn't been together long enough. Either way, I was going to savor every moment I was with him. He pulled away and said, "Also, that's my shirt you're wearing."

"And you're not getting it back." I teased as I pulled it off so I could get dressed in my Hogwarts robes.

"Looks better on you anyways." He said, pulling me back towards the bed.

Needless to say, we were both running late.

We made our way down the stairs together, sneaking kisses until he set his book down on the desk, and I made my way out the door, grinning broadly.

The news that Ron had been poisoned had spread throughout the school quickly by noon, but there was no fear about the occurrence. Rather, most were regarding the incident as an accident because he had been in the potions office. He must've picked up the poison on accident. Plus, he'd been healed almost immediately, therefore, it wasn't that big of a deal.

What was a bigger deal with the Gryffindors animosity towards the Hufflepuffs. This was because of Zacharias' commentary during the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match, something I wished had never happened.

I was actually quite excited with the idea of the Quidditch match since I had never played against Harry captain v captain. This would certainly be interesting, especially since we were both seekers as well.

However, we still had a week before that happened.

Over the next few days after attending classes I would spend time in the common room, helping with the first-years questions and such. I also upped Rose and Grace's private lessons with me from just Friday to Wednesday and Friday.

I also spent time in the common room in the corner, working on the mid-draft for the drawing, adding more details. I wanted there to be something that connected each Professor to their job. Now, instead of Trelawney having her hands clasped in front of her, she was now holding out a crystal ball. Professor McGonagall had a tabby cat by her feet. Firenze was holding a bow, a sling of arrows across his back.

But before the Quidditch match could approach in full, Severus cornered me one night into the discussion.

"Hufflepuff is playing Gryffindor this week?" Severus asked casually, dipping his quill into his ink and writing a 3 out of 10 on one of the papers.

"Yes." I replied casually, adding detail to Dumbledore's glasses. Severus did not know what I was working on but I would not let him see it and he was respecting my privacy.

"Zacharias is the captain, right?"

I thought maybe he was joking and I laughed casually, "Of course not. I am."

"You are?" Severus asked strangely and I looked up from the drawing.

Severus seemed mad, but he didn't look mad.

"Yes. . ." I said slowly, frowning, "You did know that, didn't you?"

Severus' face flushed and he said, "I thought you would have given it up!"

"Why would I do that?" I frowned, trying to figure out what I was missing here.

"Because you're pregnant!" Severus exploded and I felt the blood drain from my face when I realized what his problem was.

"Oh." I whispered, setting my drawing utensil down and quickly put the drawing away. "But Sev, I'll be fine. I'm a good flier, I'm not going to get hurt."

"You don't know that!" Severus said fiercely, shoving the homework aside, throwing the quill down. Ink splattered on the pages.

He shoved the chair back, standing up quickly and I looked at him in amazement and somewhat fearful. He was angry, extremely angry. I had to say something.

"Sev!" I stood up now, holding a hand out to touch his chest. "Breathe, alright?" I said this as lightly as possible. He closed his eyes, his hand reaching out and taking mine, keeping my hand against his chest.

"Look." I said softly, reaching up, touching his cheek softly with my other hand. "The match is going to be smooth. I foresee Hufflepuff winning."

Severus breathed in deeply and then said, "I don't want you to get hurt and even more, I don't want the child to be harmed either."

"You've watched me fly for five years Sev." I said gently. "I usually come out unscathed."

"Right." Severus said, "But there have been close calls."

"I'm playing against Gryffindor, remember, not Slytherin." I said this as gently as possible. "They're not going to be trying to seriously harm me."

Severus gritted his teeth, most likely because he had no way of defending the Slytherins and also me at the same time and he said, "If you get hurt-"

"I won't." I said firmly.

We stared at each other for a moment, almost like a staring contest and he relented, sitting back down in his chair.

I sat back down on the bed, pulling out the drawing and started to work on Hagrid's character.

"What are you working on?" Severus asked curiously and I lifted the paper slightly so that he couldn't see.

"You'll see when it's time for you to see." I said, methodically adding tiny bristles to Madam Hooch's broom.

Severus sighed in an exaggerated way before turning back to his work. I was worried that things were going to be bad between the two of us. I wasn't sure he'd completely let go of the idea of me not playing at the game this Saturday.

When we finally went to bed, there did seem to be space between the two of us that wasn't usually there at night. I didn't say anything though. It was my choice about whether or not I was going to play at the game this week. Nothing was going to happen and there was no reason for him to be upset with me.

I tried putting myself in his shoes. The baby was his child too and as such, he really should have a say in the child's safety. He had to try and get me to keep the baby safe.

I wondered what Trang would say if she knew that I was playing in the game this week. Would she agree with me? I had promised not to participate in any fights. But that had been with Death Eaters and students. Did Quidditch count?

If I did stop, what was my excuse? I certainly couldn't say an overload of homework, because the others were more overwhelmed than I was. There was nothing I could say that was an adequate excuse for giving the captain ship over to Zacharias.

I shifted uncomfortably onto my side, my back facing Severus, looking out at the dark room. I certainly couldn't tell the Quidditch team I was pregnant for goodness sake! Even Hermione didn't know.

Severus breathing turned into soft snoring and I slipped out of bed, unable to sleep. I went over, sitting by the window, looking out at the dark grounds. Then I shifted my eyes, turning my head so that I could look up at the sky.

The moon wasn't full yet, though it was getting to that point. I wished I could talk to dad, but that wasn't possible. The little girl in my stomach kicked me, though it felt like a feather kick. I put a hand on my stomach, wishing for the millionth time that I knew the countercharm to Dumbledore's spell. I would've liked to see the bump.

I fell asleep at the windowsill, looking up at the sky, but woke up in bed, Severus arm wrapped tightly around my shoulder, my cheek resting on his nightgown. His breathing was uneven, I wondered what he was dreaming about.

I rolled over, his arm flopping to the side so that I could check the time. It was a few hours till sunrise, but I no longer felt tired.

I pulled out a new piece of paper and a pencil and though there was almost no light, I started on a drawing that I had wanted to draw for a very long time.

Severus always looked quite peaceful when he slept and it was a good muse for the drawing. Of course, I didn't know how the drawing was going to turn out, considering there was no light. I halfway let my subconscious take control, and halfway not.

I couldn't see the finishing piece, but I finally felt that I could sleep properly and without putting the artwork away, I fell asleep, my head resting on Severus' legs.

"You were restless last night." Severus murmured after he had shaken me awake so that I wasn't late for class.

"Couldn't sleep." I murmured, rolling out of bed and grabbing my robes.

"What's that?" Severus asked, leaning down and picking up a piece of paper. It was the drawing I had drawn last night.

I blushed, wondering how it had come out. Severus' eyes scanned the paper and his mouth curled into a smirk.

"Give me that." I muttered, reaching to snatch the piece of paper out of his hand. He held it out of my reach and I glared at him.

"Great detail." Severus said, openly grinning now. "I hope you weren't planning on selling this one?"

I jumped, grabbing the paper, and turned the drawing to face me. It'd come out better than I had thought. He was right, there was great detail to this drawing, though no where close to the detail I'd give the mystery drawings or the Professor drawings.

I blushed deeper, folding the sexual drawing up, and handed it to him. "No, I wasn't going to sell it. You can keep it if you want."

I grabbed my bag, pulling it over my shoulder. I kissed him on the cheek and hurried out of the office so that I could grab breakfast before class.

Trang met me halfway to the Great Hall and I felt the impending doom of the Quidditch questions coming.

Indeed, the minute we sat down, refreshingly at the Ravenclaw table, she started with, "You're not playing the Quidditch game are you?"

"I've already discussed this with Severus and we feel that there is no danger if I play." I said as firmly as possible while pulling over chocolate muffins.

Trang dropped her mouth, her fork dangling carelessly from her fingers. I wondered if I was starting to see everything as art, each moment a pause in time, a drawing that could be captured. I wasn't so sure Trang would like if I drew her at this exact moment though.

"You're kidding, right?"

I sighed, peeling away the wrapper. I wasn't supposed to have chocolate or muffins or chocolate muffins but I was feeling rebellious this week, and I figured my little girl needed to taste sugar so she grew a sweet tooth anyways.

"No. Trang. I'm not kidding. Especially since we're playing Gryffindor, I'm in no danger and neither is the child." I bit into the sugary mess and was immediately satisfied. I should eat like this more often. Oh wait. . . no I couldn't.

"You promised-"

"I promised not to get into fights with Death Eaters and I extended that to duels in school." I replied, a bit sharper than intended. "I did not promise to stop flying or hand over my captainship. I kept my captain ship all last year despite Umbitches attempts to 'dethrone' me. I don't plan on just handing it over for no reason!"

"But the baby!" Trang complained.

"Trang!" I said sharply, putting my muffin down. "I've already told you that I've talked it over with Sev. If he's okay with it, then it's okay."

Trang hands were clenched into fists on the table, quivering. I got up abruptly from the table, storming off to potions where Harry was star boy and Hermione and I were second-hand for the first time in our lives. Bloody frustrating.

Saturday approached. Trang and I hadn't spoken since our spat at the Ravenclaw table. Severus seemed almost nervous this morning and eventually, his nerves became my nerves because I couldn't help it.

I went down to the Quidditch pitch early so that I could sit by myself in the Hufflepuff locker room. I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the wall.

An hour later, the other teammates started to come in, chattering quickly and excitedly and I quickly started to get into my own robes.

The match time drew closer and I looked out the door. "Alright Anthony, James, you'll want to fly out of the sun." I commanded and I was glad my voice was sound and sure, "That way the other team won't see the bludgers coming. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if Harry told his own beaters to do that so be on the lookout. Susan, up to your post."

Susan flew up to the Keeper's post on our end. I noticed McLaggen was already in his spot. I walked out with the rest of my team.

Harry and I stood opposite each other and shook hands cordially, grins on both of our faces. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and we all streaked upwards. My nerves turned into adrenaline and I shot up higher than any of the other players, looking down for the snitch.

Harry was looking for the snitch so that he could get back to the castle and find out what Draco was doing. That was the wrong mindset for the game.

"And that's Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle. He did the commentary last time, of course, and Ginny Weasley flew into him, I think probably on purpose, it looked like it." A dreamy voice echoed through the stadium and I pulled up short in amazement, right next to Harry, and looked towards the commentator post. "Smith was being quite rude about Gryffindor, I expect he regrets it now he's playing them-oh look, he's lot the Quaffle, Ginny took it from him, I do like her, she's very nice. . ."

While I had foreseen Luna commentating Quidditch, I hadn't quite expected this. I noticed all the Quidditch players had frozen for a moment, looking at Luna before moving into motion again. Harry and I exchanged a glance, and we both shook our heads in amazement before we darted off in opposite directions.

Luke took the Quaffle from Ginny. It was a good play too. I ducked a bludger but it didn't come to close. I really needed to keep any eye on the bludgers as well as the snitch.

". . . now that big Hufflepuff player's got the Quaffle from her, I can't remember his name, it's something like Chaddle- no Clartin-"

"It's Cholderton!" Professor McGonagall shouted from behind Luna, loudly enough to be heard through the magical megaphone. The crowd laughed. It was an entertaining commentary.

A moment later, Luke scored. I looked over just long enough to see that McLaggen had been shouting at Ginny, rather than watching where the Quaffle was.

"And Harry Potter's now having an argument with his Keeper. I don't think that'll help him find the Snitch, but maybe it's a clever ruse."

Below, Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were jeering at the Gryffindors. Imagine Slytherins being on your side.

Both Ginny and the other girl chaser on the team whose name started with a D scored a goal and then Luke scored a second one. The game continued on though Luna was trying to draw attention to shapes in the clouds. Zacharias hadn't taken possession of the Quaffle once since his fumble in the beginning and Luna was starting to mention that he might have Loser's Lurgy.

While entertaining, I certainly couldn't have Zacharias with any condition and I zoomed over on my broom.

"What's going on?" I asked while McGonagall shouted that we were up thirty points after Rose scored a goal.

"I just can't seem to play." Zacharias said through gritted teeth. "That Luna-"

"It's all in your head." I snapped, "You're one of my best chasers. Now get out there and show me that you are."

"And now Elizabeth's yelling at Zacharias. Or maybe they're just talking, I'm not sure. I like Elizabeth, she's very popular. It's also rumored that she's working on a surprise for the Professors, but it might not be true."

I blushed. "Bloody hell Luna."

Zacharias grinned, "I think I can score some goals now."

We both sped off into different directions.

"Oh look! The Gryffindor Keeper's got hold of one of the Beat's bats." Luna announced dreamily.

I pulled up short and watched as Harry pelted towards McLaggen. Cormac took a swing, mishit, and the bludger collided with Harry who started to fall.

At that moment, I caught the sign of gold and I dropped, diving after the snitch. I no longer had to compete against anyone to catch this snitch (though I wasn't particularly glad about it). I just hoped that Harry's teammates had enough sense to catch him.

The Gryffindors were moaning and the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were cheering. I reached out, grabbing the snitch. While originally, I'd seen us winning three hundred and twenty to sixty, the real score under my captainship was two hundred and forty to fifty.

I landed, the rest of the Hufflepuff team catching up to me and we headed off to the lockers amongst the cheers of the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins.

"Brilliant game everyone." I said cheerfully, wanting to find Trang and shake an apology from her but also wanting her to come herself and apologize herself.

"Loser's Lurgy." Rose chortled. "Zacharias has Loser's Lurgy."

"What a little brat." Zacharias muttered under his breath and Rose stuck her tongue out at him, skipping to the locker room.

"McLaggen is unbelievable." Susan said, shaking her head as the rest of us entered the locker room.

"He's in some of my classes." Luke said unexpectedly. He reminded me of Malcolm. He was usually very quiet- I'd only ever heard him say a few words. "Because he knows people in high places he automatically thinks he knows everything."

"Including how to play every Quidditch position apparently." James piped up, putting his beaters bat into the locker.

"You're coming to the party right?" Susan asked as we walked up the slop. Anthony and James were ahead. Rose and Zacharias walked on either side of her. Luke was somewhere behind us.

"Yes." I said. "But I'll be a few minutes late. I want to go and check on Harry on the hospital wing."

"Alright." Susan said as we entered the castle, "See you then."

We split off into opposite directions and I found my way to the hospital wing and stepped inside. Ginny was already there, sitting in a wooden chair between Harry and Ron's beds and was telling Ron what had happened.

"How is he?" I asked, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Harry.

"Cracked skull." Ginny said, looking worried. "I think the rest of the team is going to kill McLaggen. Well-" She sucked air up her nose and spat out, "except Dean."

I looked away, not wanting to get into the middle of everyone else's love business. "Dean laughed?"

"Yes!" Ginny said hotly. "Actually, I think I'm going to go kill McLaggen now!"

She got up, storming out of the hospital wing. I sighed, shaking my head.

"Did McLaggen really do that bad?" Ron asked, sounding hopeful.

"Yes." I said honestly. I would much rather play Gryffindor with McLaggen as Keeper than Ron at this moment. "He kept trying to act as captain and tell the others what they were doing wrong rather than paying attention to what he was supposed to be doing himself."

Ron looked happy about that and then said, "I hope Luna commentates from now on."

I chuckled. "So do I."

I got up, kissed Harry's cheek, and then left the room to go and join the party.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖉𝖆𝖞, I joined Hermione, Harry, and Ron as they were walking down to the Great Hall for breakfast. I was quite glad that Hermione and Ron were friends again and this felt more normal- the four of us.

"Ginny and Dean rowed last night." Hermione mentioned as we walked down the marble staircase.

"What did they row about?" Harry asked casually. A small girl dropped heavy brass scales as we approached. I glared at her, keeping my mouth shut.

"It's all right! Here. . ." Hermione said, hurrying forward the repairing the brass scales.

"I swear they're getting smaller." Ron said after we'd passed the small girl.

"Never mind her, what did Ginny and Dean row about, Hermione?" Harry asked, sounding impatient.

"Oh, Dean was laughing about McLaggen hitting that Bludger at you." Hermione said.

"It must've looked funny." Ron consented.

"It didn't look funny at all! It looked terrible and if Coote and Peakes hadn't caught Harry he could have been very badly hurt!" Hermione replied hotly.

"Yeah, well, there was no need for Ginny and Dean to split up over it, or are they still together?" Harry asked, the casualness not so casual.

"Yes, they are- but why are you so interested?" Hermione asked sharply.

"I just don't want my Quidditch team messed up again!"

"Harry!" A dreamy voice called.

"Oh, hi, Luna." Harry said, turning to face her.

"I went to the hospital wing to find you but they said you'd left. . ." Luna said, thrusting a green onion, a spotted toadstool, and possibly cat litter into Ron's arms. "I've been told to give you this." She handed Harry a roll of parchment that was most likely from Dumbledore.

"Tonight." Harry said to Ron, Hermione, and I after he unrolled and skimmed through it.

"Nice commentary last match!" Ron said to Luna as he handed her stuff back over to her.

Luna smiled at him vaguely, "You're making fun of me, aren't you? Everyone says I was dreadful."

"I loved it." I said sincerely.

"No, I'm serious!" Ron agreed. "I can't remember enjoying commentary more! What is this, by the way?" he added, holding up the onion which wasn't an onion.

"Oh, it's a Gurdyroot. You can keep it if you like, I've got a few of them. They're really excellent for warding off Gulping Plimpies."

She walked off, leaving Ron behind to laugh contentedly.

"You know, she's grown on me, Luna. I know she's insane, but it's in a good-" Ron started happily before he was cut off by Lavender Brown. "Hi?"

"C'mon." Harry muttered to Hermione and I and we sped up.

I distinctly heard Lavender murderously question Ron, "Why didn't you tell me you were getting out today? And why was she with you?"

"Oh yeah," Hermione said as we sat down at the Gryffindor table. "What was Luna talking about during the match yesterday Elizabeth?"

"Which part?" I asked, grinning.

"The thing for the teachers." she clarified.

I moved uncomfortably in my seat, "Oh well, it was supposed to be a surprise. I suppose Luna didn't know about that part."

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.

"I'll show you guys later." I said, slicing an apple into small pieces so I didn't have to bite into the apple.

"When?" Hermione asked.

"How about later today in the library. I'll be with a group of Hufflepuffs." I said.

"Sure." Harry said. "But it better be good considering all the suspense."

"It's not suspense." I said scornfully. "It's a secret. Students talk, you know? If we keep it amongst a few people, it'll stay quiet from the teachers. Not that Luna helped with that."

"Had you told Luna?" Hermione asked.

"No. It was only discussed amongst a few Hufflepuffs. Perhaps Ernie or Zacharias said something." I suggested, shrugging. "Or perhaps Rose told Grace and Grace spread it around."

"Rose plays well." Harry complimented.

"She does, doesn't she?" I smiled, sliding a piece of apple into the back of my mouth. "I was pleasantly surprised. She has a knack for dodging bludgers."

The rest of the conversation carried out onto the Quidditch matches and Hermione disappeared behind her newspaper. Gryffindor was most likely to win the cup this year, something I was both pleased and disappointed about. I wondered if the difference in the two scores would change things.

Around noon, I went to the library to partly work on my Herbology essay and partly to add some new details to the drawing before I showed it off the Hufflepuffs and Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

I was nowhere near finished, not even close. There were so many more details that needed to be done, especially with the Professors I either hadn't met like Kettleburn, Professors I didn't see any more like Quirrell, Lockhart, and Umbridge, or Professors I simply didn't have like Burbage from Muggle studies.

To top it all off, besides Hagrid, Severus, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Uncle Moody, Firenze, and Dad, I didn't really have the details memorized from all the other Professors which made things quite difficult when trying to call up specific details. Moles, wrinkles, stress lines, the lights of their eyes, the skin deformities, the shapes of their eyes, noses, mouths, ears, hair, their height, crooked shoulders, bent knees, etc.

I knew that the sketch would never be perfect. What I needed to do was to get it to a point of satisfaction for everyone except for me. Only the artist sees the flaws in their own work where others don't. (Except perhaps art critics).

I decided to work on the Herbology essay first because that didn't need to be as perfect as the drawing and would take less time.

Halfway through however, there was an interruption in the form of a person: Trang.

She sat down across from me, red eyed, and with a stuffy nose. I knew she'd been crying and though we'd fought, I immediately set aside my essay to talk to her. I reached out, taking her hand in mine. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry." Trang whispered, "You were right. There was no danger after all."

I sighed. "Look, Trang, I'm sorry. In a way, you were right. Something could've gone wrong, something could've happened. At the same time, I don't want to live my life in a safety box, you know?"

Trang smiled hesitantly, "Yes, I know. You never could do that."

I smiled, pulling back the essay and finishing off the last paragraphs. Then I pulled out the art drawing.

"What more do you need to do on this?" Trang asked, frowning at the drawing.

"Lots and lots of details." I said, not taking my eyes off the drawing and pulling out my pencil. "I'm going to have to find and excuse to see some of these Professors. I've got a picture of Lockhart and Umbridge, but Quirrell is going to be harder. Plus I've never met Kettleburn and Grubby-Plank is hard to pull up as well. Not to mention the Professors I've only had for a year like Burbage. I have to do these people justice, and the details are quite difficult." I paused for a second and then said, "Plus, I'd like to add myself into the drawing."

"Like an artists mark." Trang stated in a matter-of-fact way.

"Exactly." I said, my voice rising in excitement. "I think I'm going to do it in cat form. No one will find that weird because McGonagall has a cat on her shoulder, Filch is holding Mrs. Norris, and Fang is by Hagrid's feet. I just don't know where I want myself to be, you know? I was thinking by Firenze's feet but I'm also Severus' wife, but I Severus doesn't exactly show his um. . . what do you call it. . . emotional side to anyone else and him holding a cat isn't as realistic as the drawing could be. So I'm not entirely sure where-"

"In your dad's arms." Trang said and it was such a simple suggestion and the obvious one that I kind've just stared at her for a moment. "What? It'll bind the love that you two have between the two of you in a symbolic and permanent way even after we're all dead."

"Your completely, totally right." I whispered. "Though of course, I'll have to take out the tank under his arm."

"Not necessarily." Trang suggested, tilting the paper slightly to the left instead of getting up and coming around the other side of the table to look at it. "The cat could be drawn by his feet. Or he could be holding you to his shoulder with one hand."

"Of course. . ." I whispered, picking up the paper and holding it up to the light. "Genius Trang! Genius!"

"What's genius?" A new voice said and I quickly rolled the paper automatically, feeling stupid when I saw that it was Ernie, Justin, and Zacharias.

"Is that the drawing?" Justin asked.

"Yes." I said. "I'm just waiting for the others to show so I can show all of you at once."

"Let's go over here." Zacharias said, jerking his head. I carried the drawing while Trang picked up my things and we headed to a corner of the library.

It was circular shaped, bookcases all around. I stayed with my back to the wall so that no one could appear from behind us. There were chairs that were angled around a small coffee table. Ernie, Justin, Zacharias, and Trang all took seats nearest to me. Very soon, Susan and Hannah entered and hurried over.

Rose followed by herself some moments later.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry came in last, settling around with us.

"So what is it?" Ron asked bluntly.

I gave the credit where it was due. "Susan came up with the idea, at least to the best of my knowledge, I wasn't paying attention to the conversation. Anyways, they said we should come up with a graduating present. A token of appreciation to our teachers. I took this a bit literally. . ." I carefully unrolled the drawing, facing it towards them on the coffee table.

"When you meant all of them. . ." Harry said slowly, observing Professor Moody's details.

"All of them." I said solidly. "None of us had Kettleburn, granted, but he was still an incredibly important teacher and he was technically here when we were here."

"This is amazing!" Rose declared. She'd left her seat, kneeling by the coffee table.

"Thanks Rose." I said gently.

"I can't believe you're done already." Zacharias said, his neck cinching a little as he turned his head to look at the drawing rather than stand up to look at it.

Trang snorted, "Done? You should've heard her earlier. Going on about details. She's apparently nowhere close to done."

Hannah's face was quite impressed. She came back after Christmas break with the rest of us. She'd been unusually quiet, but I didn't blame her in the least.

Ernie was also being unusually quiet, observing the drawing as though he had to take a test on it later. I was slightly amused.

"So?" I asked, "How's the rough draft?"

Ernie chuckled. "Rough draft."

"It's wonderful Elizabeth." Hermione said, practically glowing with happiness. "You've captured all of them so well."

"You should make Professor Snape grumpier." Ron pointed out. "He looks to kind in this drawing."

My eyes met Harry's for the briefest second and I said, "Well, I was trying to make them all look a bit nicer."

"Yes, I can tell with Mrs. Norris." Susan said, "Even Filch looks a bit happy in this one."

"That was inspirational." I said honestly. "After Mrs. Norris was unpetrified, I saw him holding her and he looked quite happy."

"I would definitely pay to see a drawing of Professor Snape smiling." Justin said with a laugh.

"Oh, one second." I said, giddy with pleasure. I was human after all and I did like compliments to my drawings. "I was doing some portraits. Pay me for this."

I handed him the artpad, page already up of Severus smiling, standing by the window, holding out his hand.

"Wow." Justin said, laughing and passing the artpad around. "That's. . . wow."

The drawing brought on laughs. After all, no one had ever seen Severus smile before. Harry met my eyes again and gave me a slight nod. I gave him a small smile before sticking the art pad into my bag. Trang gave me a smile as well.

"Well." I said. "I must admit that's all I had. I just wanted opinions, criticisms. I'll take into account of S- Professor Snape looking grumpier. I was also hoping you guys could give advice on what each Professor could be holding or wearing that might contribute to their subject. For instance, Professor Lupin was holding the Grindylow tank or Professor Burbage holding the rotary telephone- that's a Muggle thing. Anyways, I don't need suggestions now but if you guys write down a list or something I can utilize it in the final drawings, deal?"

"Deal." Came multiple responses.

"Great." I said with a broad grin and we all left the library at different times.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

"𝕯𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 tell stories?" Severus asked sleepily late that night.

"Through my art, you mean?" I asked, rolling over so I could see part of his face in the moonlight.

"No, I mean physical stories. I know you wrote a couple before giving up the hobby." Severus said, putting an arm around me to pull my closer though he was looking up at the ceiling rather than at me.

"No." I said softly, looking at the wall. "I've never told an adequate story without artwork."

"So if you had a piece of artwork, you could tell a story." Severus said.

I got up on my elbows to get a better look at him, "Why?"

"Something I was simply curious about." Severus said smoothly, pulling me down to the bed again. I gave in, pressing my lips to his warm bare skin.

I looked at him for a moment and then rolled over out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Severus asked. I heard the bedsprings creak and knew he was probably sitting up.

"I'll be right back, I promise." I said gently, turning into a cat and padding out of the room.

I made my way to the Hufflepuff common room. I probably should've put clothes on, I realized too late. I morphed, quickly entered the password and turned back into a cat before anyone could see me. I slinked upstairs to the dorm.

The other girls were asleep and I padded over to where I'd locked the drawings. I morphed again, pulling the blanket off my bed and draping it over me while I unlocked the drawer, pulling out a specific drawing.

It was the drawing of a shop filled with keys. Keys in jars, keys hanging from the ceiling, keys hanging in the garden, keys under class cases and such. There was an old man, rearranging jars on a shelf, his face turned away so that only the back of him could be seen.

I locked the dresser again, turning back into a cat and, carrying the drawing in my small mouth, made my way back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office.

After my long black tail slipped through the thin opening of the office door, I turned back into a human and closed the door behind me. Severus was grinning from where he was sitting on the bed and I rolled my eyes.

I lit a candle as I passed by, carrying it over near the bed. I handed Severus the drawing.

I touched the drawing too, wondering if this would work. But if I could believe Severus' hypothesis to be true, then if I reached into my subconscious, this could work.

I closed my eyes, the image of the drawing appearing into the back of my mind and I almost back out of the experiment. This was too weird, to much magic for a magical world. But was it? I took a deep breath and then started to speak in a voice that was my own and yet, also not my voice.

"Once there was a man who collected keys. Old keys and new keys and broken keys. Lost keys and stolen keys and skeleton keys. He carried them in his pockets and wore them on chains that clattered as he walked around the town. Everyone in the town knew the key collector. Some people though his habit strange but the key collector was a friendly sort and had a thoughtful air and a quick smile. If someone lost a key or broke a key they could ask the key collector and he would usually have a replacement that would suit their needs. It was often faster than having a new key made. The key collector kept the most common shapes and sizes of keys always at hand, in case someone was in need of a key for a door or a cupboard or a chest."

The man almost seemed to move, walking from the jars to the counter where the large tubs of keys were kept. His face was in view now.

"The key collector was not possessive about his keys. He gave them away when they were needed. (Though often people would have a new key made anyway and return the one they had borrowed). People gave him found keys or spare keys as gifts to add to his collection. When they traveled they would find keys to bring back with them, keys with unfamiliar shapes and strange teeth. (They called the man himself the key collector but a great many people aided with the collecting.)"

Severus fingers trailed up and down my spine, distracting me momentarily.

"Eventually the key collector had too many keys to carry and began displaying them around his house. He hung them in the windows on ribbons like curtains and arranged them on bookshelves and framed them on walls. The most delicate ones he kept under glass or in boxes meant for jewels. Others were piled together with similar keys, kept in buckets or baskets."

As I spoke, I saw each thing that was talked about. Keys hanging in windows though I'd never drawn that. Clearer details of the keys under the glass boxes then from the angle originally drawn. I finally knew what some people talked about drawings coming to life though I thought mine had more sustenance.

"After many years the entire house was filled near to bursting with keys. They hung on the outside as well, over the doors and the windows and draped from the eaves of the roof. The key collector's house was easily spotted from the road.

"One day there was a knock upon his door.

"The key collector opened the door to find a pretty woman in a long cloak on his doorstep. He had never seen her before, nor had he seem embroidery of the sort that trimmed her cloak: star-shaped flowers in gold thread on dark cloth, too fine for travel though she must have traveled far. He did not see a horse or a carriage and supposed she might have left them at the inn for no one passed through this town without staying at the inn and it was not far.

"'I have been told you collect keys,' the woman said to the key collector.

'"I do,' said the key collector, though this was obvious. There were keys hanging above the doorway where they stood, keys on the walls behind him, keys in jars and bowls and vases on the tables.

"'I am looking for something that has been locked away. I wonder if one of your keys might unlock it.'

'"You are welcome to look,' the key collector said and invited the woman inside.

"He considered asking the woman what manner of key she sought so he might help her look but he knew how difficult it was to describe a key. To find a key you had to understand the lock.

"So the key collector let the woman search the house. He showed her every room, every cabinet and bookshelf line with keys. The kitchen with its teacups and wineglasses filled with keys, save for the few that were used more frequently, empty and waiting for wine or for tea.

"The key collector offered the woman a cup of tea but she politely refused. He left her to her searching and sat in the front parlor where she could find him if she needed and he read a book.

"After many hours the woman returned to the key collector.

"'It is not here,' she said. 'Thank you for letting me look.'

"'There are more keys in the back garden,' the key collector said, and led the woman outside.

"The garden was festooned with keys, strung from ribbons in a rainbow of colors. Keys tied with bows hung from trees and bouquets of keys displayed in glazed pots and vases. Birdcages with keys hung on the tiny swings inside with no birds to be seen. Keys set into the paving stones along the garden paths. A bubbling fountain contained piles of keys beneath the water, sunken like wishes.

"The light was fading so the key collector lit the lanterns.

"'It is lovely here,' the woman said. She began to look through the garden keys, keys held by statues and keys wound around topiaries. She stopped in front of a tree that was just starting to blossom, reaching out to a key, one of many hanging from red ribbons.

"'Will that key suit your lock?' the key collector asked.

"'More than that,' the woman answered. 'This is my key. I lost it a very long time ago. I'm glad it found its way to you.'

"'I am glad to return it,' the key collector said. He reached up to untie the ribbon for her, leaving it hanging from the key in her hand.

"'I must find a way to repay you,' the woman said to the key collector.

"'No need for that' the key collector told her. 'It is my pleasure to help reunited you with your locked-away thing.'

"'Oh,' the woman said, 'It is not a thing. It is a place,'

"She held the key out in front of her at a height above her waist where keyhole might have been if there was a door and part of the key vanished. The woman turned the key and an invisible door unlocked in the middle of the key collector's garden. The woman pushed the door open.

"The key and its ribbon remained hanging in midair.

"The key collector looked through the door into a golden room with high arched windows..."

I drifted off and Severus looked at me sharply, bringing me back to reality. For a moment, seeing the images play inside my house, it felt real.

"What?" Severus asked.

"I drew the place that the man is describing." I said softly, mad at myself for breaking the spell. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to finish the story. But Severus prodded me and I closed my eyes again.

"Dozens of candles stood on tables laid for a great feast. He heard music playing and laughter coming from out of sight. Through the windows he could see waterfalls and mountains, a sky brightly lit by two moons and countless stars reflected in a shimmering sea. The woman walked through the door, her long cloak trailing over the golden tiles. The key collector stood in his garden, staring. The woman took the key

"on its ribbon from its lock.

"She turned back to the key collector. She raised a hand in invitation, beckoning him forward.

"The key collector followed.

"The door closed behind him.

"No one ever saw him again."

⬅️➡️

[braveclementine]

Chapter 14

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕬𝖕𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖈𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖘 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖉 on the first Saturday of February. I was quite glad to have something to do because all my homework was done and Severus was going to be busy and there had been nothing for me to do today.

I would've gone outside and drawn the purple-gray clouds floating in the sky, spots of grass appearing where the snow had melted, and the lawns slippery and muddy. But it was raining and while it was a lovely scene to draw, I preferred to stay dry and warm.

I arrived in the Great Hall where the apparation lessons would be held with Trang, Harry, and Hermione.

The Great Hall looked much like how it had been during exams last year minus the desk. The four house tables were gone from the room. Rain was sloshing against the windows and the magical ceiling that portrayed the outside weather showed dark swirling clouds. I randomly wondered if the magical barriers would protect Hogwarts from a tornado.

Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, and Snape were standing in the very back of the room, opposite the entrance doors with a small wizard, bigger than Flitwick and smaller than Sprout. He looked a bit like a ghost in a way, though with slightly more color. His hair was wispy and he seemed as though the wind could blow him away. I wondered if his coloring had anything to do with constant apparation.

I exchanged a look with Harry and knew we were thinking the same things.

"Good morning." The Ministry wizard said. Even his breath sounded like it could be carried on the wind. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition Tests in this time-"

"Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!" Professor McGonagall barked.

Heads spun towards where Professor McGonagall was looking. Malfoy flushed dull pink as he stepped away from Crabbe, to whom he had been talking to. I glanced quickly at Severus who was looking slightly annoyed.

"-by which time, many of you may be ready to take your tests." Twycross said and I realized with embarrassment that I hadn't heard what he'd been saying because I'd been preoccupied with Malfoy. I mentally criticized myself.

"As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to Apparate outside of the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try. I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you."

Everyone started to scramble around, pushing each other or ordering others out of space that they apparently thought theirs. I made my way to the left side of the Hall, giving myself the approximate five space needed. I was in the front along with many Ravenclaws. I supposed they believed that knowledge would help them in this endeavor. I could see Trang somewhere in the back and to my left.

I was quite nervous, my stomach turning over. Of course, no one would be apparate on the first try, not even Hermione so I shouldn't expect myself to exceed where others couldn't. I was slightly worried about Trang however. She certainly didn't have the practice that might be needed in this case and I was worried.

Susan was going to splinch herself, but she would be the only one. There was nothing for me to worry about.

Severus was looking at me, a frustrated look on his face, and I wondered what he was upset about. Then, with impending horror, I realized that I'd forgotten to tell him that Dumbledore had told me it was safe to take apparation.

There was no way to tell him now. I'd have to tell him afterwards. I'm sure there was going to be a fight, something I wasn't looking forward to, and I looked glumly at the floor.

"Quiet!" The house heads shouted.

"Thank you, now then. . ." Mr. Twycross said, waving his wand. Wooden hoops appeared on the floor in front of each student. I'd had one of these when I was a little girl for hoola-hooping. Or sometimes playing stick and hoop. You used a branch to roll the hoop alongside you. Of course, the taller you were, the harder it was to get the hoop rolling and it was hard to get the hoop rolling in the first place. The kids on the playground at school had been envious that I was so good at it. But it was just because I was shorter than them. Probably.

"The important things to remember when Apparating are the three D's! Destination, Determination, Deliberation! Step one: Fix your mind upon the desired destination. In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now."

I looked down at the center of the hoop. The floor, though made of tile, was completely perfect. Most of it was white, yes, but there were flecks of brown, black, and gray. But they were so little that if I hadn't been studying it, I would never have normally noticed them.

"Step two, focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!"

I waited for some sort of magical feeling to flow from my head to my feet but nothing happened. It was really stupid, if you thought about it. When your supposed to be thinking about something, you never seem to be thinking about it.

"Step three, and only when I give the command. Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness moving with deliberation! On my command, now... one-"

My stomach clenched. I wasn't ready!

"-two-"

I nearly thought about closing my eyes, the way I dealt with magic most of the time. Concentrating through the blackness of my mind.

"-THREE!"

I turned on the spot, focusing on nothingness, and the hoop. I heard a crack and then next thing I knew, I was standing in the hoop.

There were murmured whispers in the hall and I closed my eyes, horrified. I shouldn't have tried so hard.

I opened my eyes again and saw the house heads kind've just staring at me. Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall's had various degrees of pride written on their faces while Severus held his pride in his eyes rather than on his face.

Mr. Twycross showed more surprise than anything else. I knew he hadn't been expecting this. I stepped out of the hoop, heading back to my starting spot, wishing that people would start to move again and stop staring at me.

Mr. Twycross asked Professor Sprout something and she positively beamed while she answered.

"Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions. . ." He finally said and the other students started to move their hoops back to where they had been. I could still feel students eyes on me and I felt uncomfortable.

This was very different from showing off in class by knowing word by word definitions. This was something that none of us had studied, something that we had never practiced before. I should not have been able to do so on first try.

Perhaps it was because Dad had done so much side-along apparation with me as I grew up that I had a subconscious knack for it. There had to be some sort of explanation.

I kind've just stared at the hoop for the rest of the tries, not even attempting anything. On the fourth attempt, there was a painful screeching and I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around me.

When I opened them, I saw the house heads had converged on Susan Bones. Her leg was five feet away from the hoop, though the rest of her body had successfully transported to the inside of the hoop.

"Splinching, or the separation of random body parts occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continuously upon your destination, and move without haste, but with deliberation... thus." Twycross said slightly dispassionately and, turning on the spot, appeared at the front of the hall, near the double doors.

"Remember the three D's and try again. . . one-two-three."

An hour later, I'd managed to apparate twice more- the only attempts I made. I was also starting to feel sick though I wasn't sure if it was motion sickness, morning sickness, upset stomach, or nerves and anxiety from being stared at by the whole school combined with stress of being pregnant.

"Until next Saturday, everybody, and do not forget; Destination, Determination, Deliberation." Twycross said while fastening his cloak. The hoops were vanished and I hurried away from the Great Hall, the first student out and headed immediately up towards the hospital wing.

"Elizabeth!" A sharp voice called and my steps faltered and I turned reluctantly.

"Professor." I answered as students started to flood past us.

"I thought-"

"Dumbledore gave me permission." I muttered since we were close enough. "He said I could do it. I meant to tell you last night but I got um, distracted and it slipped my mind."

Severus grinned and then remembered that he was in a hallway of students and quickly masked his face before anyone noticed that he had an emotion that wasn't mad or disapproving.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Hospital wing, I feel sick." I said and he put a hand on my shoulder and hurried me along to the hospital wing.

The wing was completely empty and Severus went and fetched Madam Pomfrey from her office. She took a look at me, asking me about my symptoms. Since it was just the three of us, Severus showed mild affection and obvious concern towards me.

If Madam Pomfrey thought that our situation was strange, she didn't show it on her face. She stayed professional and kind all at once.

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with you or the baby," Madam Pomfrey said, setting her wand in her pocket. "It's possible that it was simply motion sickness. Of course, pregnancy creates all sorts of new emotions and I'm sure that you felt quite self-conscious when everyone was staring at you in the Great Hall. I suppose. . ." she finished the rest of her statement in her head, checking my eyes and then poured a clear liquid into a cup.

"Drink this." she said, handing it to me and I doused it like a shot. "That should kick in slowly rather than immediately. Won't hurt the baby either."

"Thank you." Severus said in his most sincere voice, kissing the top of my head.

"Oh yes!" Madam Pomfrey said as we stood up, getting ready to leave, "The baby should be due on June 14th but the days could be sooner or later as the exact day is always ambiguous."

I let out a sigh of relief. Severus didn't have to kill Dumbledore until the 30th which meant he would be there for the babies birth. Good.

Severus and I left, heading up to his office.

"I really am sorry I didn't tell you sooner about the apparition and Dumbledore." I apologized again as I sat down on the bed, laying down to rest.

"Don't worry about it." Severus said softly, sitting on the floor and kissed my forehead. He pulled some papers towards him and grabbed a quill to start grading. "Congratulations on apparating first thing by the way."

I laughed. "I don't know how I did it. I think maybe because dad's taken me on side-along apparation so much. I don't know."

"Or maybe you're just incredibly talented." Severus said gently, slightly proudly.

I went to laugh but groaned instead, curling up into a ball and hugging myself. Severus was over me in an instant.

"I'm fine." I said, pushing his chest lightly so that he'd sit back down. "I don't know much about pregnancy but I'm sure this is just one of those things, alright?"

"Sure." Severus whispered.

"Can I have my artpad?" I whispered.

Severus leaned over, grabbing my bag and handed up my artpad and my box that I kept my different drawing utensils in.

"Thanks." I whispered. Severus kissed me on the cheek and then threw himself into grading.

I worked into the night, not drawing a place or places, but rather people. Two people at various stages of life.

First, there is a small girl with wide brown eyes and frizzy hair about her head, sitting in a chair. In one piece of art, she is holding a door knocker tightly, brass and old. There is a bruise at her temple, a greenish hue spreading through her light brown skin. Beside her on a table is a plate of small cakes.

In another drawing, it is the same scenery, but she is now instead holding a stuffed rabbit toy. Her eyes are now on the rabbit rather than whatever she was looking at before.

In another drawing, she is in a room. She is wearing trousers and a sweater and a mask. The mask looks antique, covering most of the face till it reaches the mouth. It is a rabbit mask, it's ears making the girl look taller than she is. She has a sack on her back though the contents of the sack are unknown. She is in the middle of dropping an origami star in a corner, letters seen, but not enough to make out full words.

In the next drawing however, there is a boy. He looks older than most of the boys I know, perhaps eighteen. He has blond hair and brown eyes, curves in his nose and long eyelashes. He is wearing old fashioned clothes with lots of ruffles and large brass buttons on the outside of his coat. His trousers and long socks and strange shoes might've placed him in the mid-1700s, perhaps later.

The boy is standing in a hallway, this one is full of paintings, not café tables and black chairs. It is a hallway based on architecture, based on the articulate and detailed names on the books. The paintings inside the drawings are detailed: floating castle inside a green frame, cities carved into a cliff in a large brass frame, mansions melded together with ships and more.

That drawing is put aside and the next is with both of them. The girl is older now, her eyes are black rather than brown, perhaps diluted by spending time in the darkness. Her brown hair is piled in curls and braids. She wears the bunny ears still, hiding her face though not her lips. She wears a tank top and a short skirt with blue leggings and black boots that almost reach her knees.

The boy still wears the frills, the strange shoes, the stockings. They look so out of place with each other, as though they were from different times. The room has a table that is strewn with papers, books, ink, and quills. There are pillows on the floor and a type of couch that people call the psychiatrist couch. I think the proper term was chaise lounge. There were doors on one side of the room, five of them, each marked with a different symbol. Key, crown, bee, feather, sword. There is no heart, but perhaps that's because the heart is on the door that the boy had come through.

The last one is the two of them with no clothes on. Their lips are locked, their bodies entwined. Her bunny ears stay on.

My hand is sore and I drop the pencil into the box, snapping it closed and making a toss for my bag. It lands on top. Severus jerks, his quill scratching against the paper. Apparently he'd fallen asleep.

My hand is covered in graphite or lead, whichever was in the pencil. I grab a cloth and start to wipe my fingers. Severus stands, stretching and sets the parchment and quill back down on his desk. There aren't as many stacks of paper anymore. I suppose he'd gotten a lot done.

I wondered how long it had taken to do this art work, if Severus had said anything. I checked the clock and saw that nearly five hours had passed and that I was hungry. It was to late to go down to the Great Hall. Two hours to late.

I sighed, finishing cleaning my hands and started to gather my artwork, but Severus beat me to it, scooping up the papers and looking through them.

I wondered if he saw the two people as unsettling. They were obviously from different time periods. It was unnatural. How was it that the two of them met? Was time travel possible in the future? Was this then, a place from the past? It had to be if the boy was there and he was dressed from the past.

Severus carefully set my artwork down on the bag as my stomach growled. He gave me a smirk and with a wave of his wand, produced fruit and vegetables and meat and drink. Part of me felt disconcerted. I felt as though for a moment, I had been a part of that world and now, I had returned to this world, only for a brief moment.

"I need to let this go." I sighed, sticking a grape in my mouth. "I'm getting obsessed, I don't think it's healthy."

"Perhaps you're making nothing into something." Severus suggested kindly. "These could be book ideas, characters or places your bringing to life. I mean, it's possible isn't it?"

Could that be it? Just something I was seeing from the future, bringing it to life? Fictional though it may be, Severus' idea had some logic to it.

I shrugged, "Anything's possible when it comes to me."

"I'll take you up on that." Severus said slyly and I blushed and threw a grape at him. He chuckled, catching it and popping it into his mouth.

If the others saw him like this. . . the thought crossed my mind. How fun he could be, that definitely wasn't something that he showed anyone else.

"What?" He asked, scowling.

"Why don't you show others this side of you?" I asked curiously.

"Why would I?" He asked back. "I only show this side to the people that I love and that's only one person."

"Even Dumbledore doesn't know this side of you!" I protested.

"I don't love Dumbledore." Severus said. "That's the difference. I have great respect and loyalty to him and I would die for him and I would do what he bide me do, but that is very different from the love that I feel for you."

I stared at the carrots instead of at him, touched by his emotions.

Severus gently put a hand on one side of my face, turning me so that I faced him. "Do you understand? This is for you and you only."

"Yes." I breathed and he leaned in to kiss me.

We abandoned dinner after that.

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𝕺𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 couple of days, I abandoned the drawings, locking them in the dresser next to my bed in the Hufflepuff common room. I realized how un-prefect like I had been. I was almost never in the common room, and people had noticed.

"Where are you spending all of your time?" Ernie asked in the library one day during a study session. He looked exhausted. "All the first-years still have so many questions and I'm handling it all by myself."

"Library, private lessons, Hagrid's, Quidditch, I'm sorry Ernie, I'll start spending more time in the common room." I said sincerely and I did so. I started doing homework in there instead of the library, pulling my weight. Ernie was right, the first-years were quite demanding this year.

Apparition lessons continued though I didn't attend every lesson. Severus and Madam Pomfrey were quite sure that it was alright to skip lessons every other week, and when I did attend, it was only to try a few times. Every time I did try however, I ended up appearing in my hoop.

There were multiple splinching incidents but no one had fully apparated yet. Hermione was officially freezing out all of her friends now. She had frozen out Harry for the Bezoar incident, Ron because of Lavender, and now me because I had excelled in apparation where no one else could. It was very frustrating and I felt that if she thought she was so entitled to being the best then she needed to work harder.

Harry meanwhile, was stalking Draco with the Marauders' map. I suppose I could've told him that Draco was going into the room of requirement but I figured my visions were on a need to know basis.

The next Hogsmeade trip was cancelled, most likely because of Katie's incident. She hadn't returned from St. Mungo's yet, though it didn't mean anything. She wouldn't remember anything anyways.

And on top of that, more students were either leaving school, or looking extremely depressed as there were strange disappearances in the news, usually with someone's last name. I was glad that I could be sure of dad's future.

Ron's birthday came and I woke up, snuggled in the crook of Severus's arm. I knew what was going to happen and I rolled over, pressing my lips against his cold skin and then slipped from the bed.

I got dressed quickly, pulling on my robes and shoving my art pad in my bag. I'd started drawing other things, usually my classmates in order to keep my mind off the other drawings. They were quite successful and I'd taken up Tonk's advice and was making a little money on them.

I headed down to breakfast, where I was hailed by my Hufflepuff friends and I went and sat down with them.

They were all talking at top speed about how much they dreaded the Hogsmeade trip being cancelled, etc. etc.

"Elizabeth?" Susan chirped and I jerked and looked at her.

"What'd I miss?" I asked, blushing.

"We asked if you'd do a portrait of the teachers." Justin said, grinning.

"Why?" I asked curiously but pulled my art pad out all the same.

"Like a gift from our graduating class." Susan said. "I figured it would take a lot of time so you'd need time to start it."

"It sounds like a good idea." I replied honestly. "And it would take a lot of time so it would be a good idea for me to start it now."

"But?" Ernie asked.

I hesitated, "Have graduating classes ever given their teachers a gift before? And what about the Slytherins? I highly doubt they'll sign it."

"They will since Professor Snape will be in the drawing." Justin replied. "They'll probably draw hearts all around him too."

I snorted, "Alright then. Question. Should I draw on a normal sized piece of paper and then enlargen it? Or should I enlargen a piece of paper from the start and draw from there."

"Draw and then enlargen." Ernie said promptly.

"Deal." I said. "I'll start soon."

Susan was so happy she clapped her hands together gleefully.

About this time, Ron was being hung upside down by Harry after punching him in the ear.

I grinned at all of them. I flipped open a side page and started to write names:

Dumbledore McGonagall Sprout Flitwick Snape Sinistra Trelawney Filch Pomfrey Firenze Vector Hagrid Pince Slughorn Babbling Burbage Binns Hooch

Then, on the underside, I wrote:

Quirrell, Lockhart Lupin Moody Umbridge Grubby-Plank Kettleburn

I wondered how the teachers would react, seeing their past colleagues mixed in with the current ones. And in a few years, some of these teachers would be dead. Perhaps it would be better if I didn't draw this after all. I was also going to need a bigger artpad now- if I did go through with the idea.

I said good-bye to the others and headed to the Magical art classroom. I wasn't sure who was the teacher of this class, nor did I ever plan to join this club, but I found what I needed which was a larger art pad, and I took it from the student supplies closet.

Then I went to the library while Ron was choking down a bezoar and started to draw.

This was very different from the other drawings because this needed perfection without being drawn randomly from my subconscious.

I started on Dumbledore, making him the center of the page and then branching out, McGonagall on one side and Snape on the other. Hagrid was set in the back and Firenze was completely on the outside, his torso angled so that his legs were facing away from the others. Flitwick was put in the front along with Vector. Filch stood in the shadows next to Madam Pince, the librarian.

Sprout and Slughorn were placed next to each other, Sprout obviously thinner than Slughorn. Trelawney stood to the side, her glasses enlargened her eyes and her hands were clasped together.

Madam Pomfrey stood there, a potion in her hands, her wand sticking up in the front pocket of her white apron.

I continued with the rough sketch. Burbage (Professor of Muggle Studies) holding a red rotary dial telephone in her hand.

Mrs. Norris was lounging in Filch's arms, much nicer looking that she normally did.

Adding a plant in the arms of Sprout.

A potion flask hanging carelessly in Snape's hand.

Pince was holding a library book in her hand, her other hand, a finger in front of her lips.

Hagrid was holding a dead polecat in one hand, an obvious sign that he was about to go and feed Buckbeak. Fang was at his feet, the tail lifted in mid-wag.

Hooch stood to the side, leaning on a broom, a whistle about her neck, the other hand on her hip. She was looking down her hooked nose, her yellow eyes sharp, but also wearing a small smile.

People moved about me in the library, some of them peering curiously at what I was doing, but each time, I covered it casually as though it was just coincidence. I didn't want anyone but myself knowing how the progress was going.

It was just a rough sketch, nothing fancy. I'd definitely have to add more details in the final drawing, position the Professors in other ways.

I started on the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers.

I drew Quirrell in the back, nearly standing in the shadows. He had a kind face, of course, and I drew him how he used to be, before he came back with a purple turban. Before he had become evil.

Then there was Lockhart, standing boastfully near the front, his robes sweeping and colorful. He had his charming smile and in his hand was one of his books. I supposed when I detailed it, I would title it Wandering with Werewolves. A foreshadowing to the next Professor.

I drew Professor Lupin, tired looking and accurate, but younger, his hair would've been more red than gray if I had coloured it.

"Elizabeth!" A voice said and I looked up. It was Trang.

"What's up?" I asked casually.

"Ron's been poisoned." Trang whispered, taking a seat across from me.

"Oh, yeah, I know." I said, turning back to the drawing, putting a tank with a Grindylow under Dad's arm before starting on a rough sketch of Professor Moody.

"Aren't you worried?" Trang asked in surprise.

"No." I said, adding careful detail to the carved wooden leg and fake eye. "I already knew that he'd be fine. Besides, I would've stopped it except this makes up Ron and Hermione's friendship and that'll be a nice change of pace."

"Oh." Trang said simply and took a seat across from me, "Will you be going to the hospital wing to visit him?"

"Maybe." I said slowly, putting a walking stick in Professor Moody's hands to lean on, his mouth a frown. Him and Professor Snape would be the only ones who weren't smiling. Though I supposed working on Umbridge, her smile would be more of a smirk.

"What are you working on?" Trang asked, turning her head to see it better, "I've never seen you draw so many people before."

"It's a present." I said, working carefully on Umbridge's short stumpy profile. "The Hufflepuffs came up with the idea, I'm just the one who can carry it out."

"They're the Professors!" Trang exclaimed, slightly loudly.

"Shh!" I hissed. "Your the only one outside the group that knows, keep it down. A surprise means that no one is supposed to know about it."

"Right." Trang whispered. "Sorry."

I worked carefully on the pink cardigan, trying to figure out what I wanted to have in her hands. Perhaps I should have something carved into her hands, but I wasn't sure how the Professors would react to that.

"It is really good." Trang complimented me warmly.

"Thanks." I said. By now, people were starting to converge and I wrapped the drawing up and said, "Let's go visit the others in the hospital wing."

We left quickly, disappointed students sitting back down at their desks.

"They know it's a big project." Trang said, almost smugly as though she was part of the drawing committee or something. "They want to know what it is."

I chuckled, "Well, they'll get to know what it is when it's ready to be signed."

We entered the hospital wing where Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were crowded around the bed along with Fred and George.

". . . not one of Ron's better birthdays?" Fred was asking and he looked up as we entered, "Hey, Eliza. Trang."

I smiled at him.

The hospital wing was quiet, curtains covering the windows to hide that it was already night outside. I'd spent the entire day drawing. I felt as though no time had passed between breakfast and now.

"This isn't how we imagined handing over our present." George said, laying a large present wrapped in blue and gold paper on the beside cabinet and sitting back down next to Ginny.

"Yeah, when we pictured the scene, he was conscious." Fred said and I grinned unwillingly.

"There we were in Hogsmeade, waiting to surprise him-" George started before Ginny interrupted him.

"You were in Hogsmeade?"

"We were thinking of buying Zonko's." Fred said in a gloomy voice. "A Hogsmeade branch, you know, but a fat lot of good it'll do us if you lot aren't allowed out at weekends to buy our stuff anymore. . . but never mind that now." Fred drew his chair up closer to Ron's bed. "How did it happen, Harry?"

Trang listened as Harry told the story of the cauldron chocolate spiked with love potion, going to Slughorn's for the antidote and then drinking the poisoned mead. Ron started to foam at the mouth, Harry shoved a bezoar down his throat. Slughorn ran for McGonagall and Pomfrey and now Ron was here.

"Blimey, it was lucky you thought of a bezoar." George said, his voice low. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Lucky there was one in the room." Harry said, his face paling slightly.

Hermione gave a sniff so quiet that if I hadn't had exceptional hearing, I probably wouldn't have heard it.

"Do Mum and Dad know?" Fred asked Ginny.

"They've already seen him, they arrived an hour ago- they're in Dumbledore's office now, but they'll be back soon. . ." Ginny said softly.

"If it's any solace." I said quietly. "He's going to be absolutely, 100 percent fine."

Fred breathed out, reaching out and taking my hand. I squeezed back. "So the poison was in the drink?" Fred asked Harry.

"Yes, Slughorn poured it out-"

"Would he have been able to slip something into Ron's glass without you seeing?"

"Probably, but why would Slughorn want to poison Ron?"

"No idea, you don't think he could have mixed up the glasses by mistake? Meaning to get you?" Fred asked.

"No." I said simply.

"Why would Slughorn want to poison Harry?" Ginny asked.

"I dunno." Fred said, shrugging his shoulders and squeezing my hand a second time. "But there must be loads of people who'd like to poison Harry, mustn't there? 'The Chosen One' and all that?"

"No." I said again, "Voldemort wants him alive, to kill him himself. He wouldn't send a Death Eater after Harry to kill him."

"He could be innocent." Ginny pointed out after they were all done overreacting to hearing Voldemort's name. "The poison could have been in the bottle, in which case it was probably meant for Slughorn himself."

"Who'd want to kill Slughorn?" George asked skeptically, reaching up and putting his hand over mine which I realized was still on his shoulder.

"Dumbledore reckons Voldemort wanted Slughorn on his side." Harry answered, running a hand through his hair. "Slughorn was in hiding for a year before he came to Hogwarts. And. . . and maybe Voldemort wants him out of the way, maybe he thinks he could be valuable to Dumbledore."

He must be thinking about Slughorn's hidden memory about the horcruxes. The damage that Dumbledore could and was going to do with that information.

"But you said Slughorn had been planning to give that bottle to Dumbledore for Christmas, so the poisoner could just as easily have been after Dumbledore." Ginny said gently.

"Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well." Hermione said, speaking for the first time since I'd entered the room. She sounded stuffed up and very sick. "Anyone who knew Slughorn would have known there was a good chance he'd keep something that tasty for himself."

"Er-my-nee." Ron croaked suddenly and I smiled gently, exchanging a look with Trang.

"I'm going to go to bed." Trang whispered in my ear. I turned slightly, but not enough that my hands left the hands of the twins. "Let me know how he is tomorrow."

"Sure." I whispered back and Trang left.

The dormitory doors flew open, making us all jump and my hands withdrew from Fred and George's. Hagrid came striding towards us, his hair was wet from the pouring rain outside and his coat flapped behind him as though in a breeze. He still had his crossbow in his hand and as he walked towards us, he left muddy footprints the size of small dolphins behind him.

"Bin in the forest all day! Aragog's worse, I bin readin' to him- didn' get up ter dinner till jus' now an' then Professor Sprout told me abou' Ron! How is he?"

"Not bad." Harry said quickly. "They say he'll be okay."

I quickly turned into a cat, leaving my bag by Hermione's side and jumping up into Fred's lap as Madam Pomfrey came bustling over, "No more than six visitors at a time!"

"Hagrid makes six." George said, though he sounded like he might start laughing if he didn't get it under control.

"Oh. . . yes. . ." Madam Pomfrey said, looking between the six of them, not noticing that there was a random cat that had not been there before. She turned, cleaning up the muddy footprints and then went back to her office. I leapt off Fred's lap, turning back into a human and grabbed my bag.

"Sorry Fred." I said brightly. "I didn't want to get kicked out of the hospital wing quite yet."

Hagrid hadn't seemed to have noticed. He'd turned to Harry and was saying, "I don' believe this. Jus' don' believe it. . . Look at him lyin' there. . . Who'd want ter hurt him, eh?"

Fred and George were looking at me and they stood up, converging on me. "Since when did you become an Animagus?" George asked, grinning.

"That's just what we were discussing." Harry was saying to Hagrid, "We don't know."

"Fifth year." I replied.

Fred shook his head, "bloody brilliant you are."

I turned pink.

"Someone couldn' have a grudge against the Gryffindor Quidditch team, could they?" Hagrid asked, anxiety leaking into his voice, "Firs' Katie, now Ron. . ."

"I can't see anyone trying to bump off a Quidditch team." George said, turning back to the conversation at hand.

"Wood might've done the Slytherins if he could've got away with it." Fred said in what he seemed to think was a fair voice. I giggled.

"Well, I don't think it's Quidditch, but I think there's a connection between the attacks." Hermione said quietly.

"How d'you work that out?" Fred asked curiously.

"Well, for one thing, they both ought to have been fatal and weren't, although that was pure luck. And for another, neither the poison nor the necklace seems to have reached the person who was supposed to be killed. Of course, that makes the person behind this even more dangerous in a way, because they don't seem to care how many people they finish off before they actually reach their victim."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley burst through the doors next, Mrs. Weasley swooping down on Harry and proclaiming, "Dumbledore's told us how you saved him with the bezoar. Oh, Harry what can we say? You saved Ginny, you saved Arthur, now you've saved Ron. . ."

"Don't be. . . I didn't. . ." Harry muttered, looking extremely awkward.

I laughed quietly with Fred and George.

"Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it." Mr. Weasley said in a tight voice. "Well, all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry."

"If I remember correctly," I muttered into Fred's ear and George leaned in to listen, "You helped him with his luggage and then pretty much pushed Ron into the compartment to make friends with him so it's really your doing."

"Cheers Elizabeth." Fred said cheerfully.

Madam Pomfrey came out, reminding us of the six person limit. Hagrid, Hermione, Harry, and I left. I made sure that my drawing was still in the bag before leaving, kissing both George and Fred on the cheek and followed the others out.

"It's terrible." Hagrid said in a low, growly voice as we walked down the halls, "All this new security, an' kids are still gettin' hurt. . . Dumbledore's worried sick. . . He don' say much, but I can tell.."

"Hasn't he got any ideas, Hagrid?" Hermione asked.

"I 'spect he's got hundreds of ideas, brain like his. But he doesn' know who sent that necklace nor put poison in that wine, or they'd've bin caught, wouldn' they? Wha' worries me," Hagrid looked over his shoulder and Harry looked up at the ceiling, "is how long Hogwarts can stay open if kids are bein' attacked. Chamber o' secrets all over again, isn' it? There'll be panic, more parents takin' their kids outta school, an' nex' thing yeh know the board o' governors. . ."

Hagrid stopped talking as a ghost floated past us and didn't started up until she was gone, "the board o' governors'll be talkin' about shuttin' us up fer good."

"Surely not?" I asked without thinking.

"Gotta see it from their point o' view." Hagrid said and I knew he had a point, "I mean, it's always bin a bit of a risk sendin' a kid ter Hogwarts, hasn' it? Yer expect accidents, don' yeh, with hundreds of underage wizards all locked up tergether, but attmpted murder, tha's diff'rent. S'no wonder Dumbledore's angry with Sn-"

Hagrid cut off, looking guilty and I sighed, closing my eyes. I should've intervened, should've said something before now but it was too late.

"What? Dumbledore's angry with Snape?" Harry asked, sounding victorious.

"I never said that', look at the time, it's gettin' on fer midnight, I need ter-" Hagrid said quickly.

"Hagrid, why is Dumbledore angry with Snape?" Harry asked loudly, as though he was trying to get someone else to hear him.

"Shhhhhhhhh!" Hagrid hissed. "Don' shout stuff like that, Harry, d'yeh wan' me ter lose me job? Mind, I don' suppose yeh'd care, would yeh, not now yeh've given up Care of Mag-"

"Don't try and make me feel guilty, it won't work!" Harry said fiercely. Hermione and I watched the conversation batter back and forth. "What's Snape done?"

"I dunno, Harry, I shouldn'ta heard it at all! I- well, I was comin' outta the forest the other evenin' an' I overheard 'em talking- well, arguin'. Didn't like ter draw attention to meself, so I sorta skulked an' tried not ter listen, but it was a- well, a heated discussion an' it wasn' easy ter block it out." Hagrid said uncomfortably, obviously wishing he hadn't said anything.

"Well?" Harry urged him. Hagrid shuffled his dolphin feet.

"Well- I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he- Snape- didn' wan' ter do it anymore-"

"Do what?" Harry asked. Like Hagrid had all the answers.

"I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin' a bit overworked, tha's all- anyway, Dumbledore told him flat out he'd agreed ter do it an' that was all there was to it an'- an' something about Elizabeth I didn't understand. Pretty firm with him. An' then he said summat abou' Snape makin' investigations in his House, in Slytherin. Well, there's nothin' strange about that!" Hagrid said while Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance. I continued to stare up at the ceiling. "All the Heads o' Houses were asked ter look inter that necklace business-"

"Yeah, but Dumbledore's not having rows with the rest of them, is he?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, but the other Heads know the necklace didn't come from their students." I said softly.

"Look." Hagrid said quickly as he twisted his crossbow. He'd apparently twisted to far because there was a cracking sound and the crossbow snapped in two. He gritted his teeth in obvious frustration but said kindly, "I know what yeh're like abou' Snape, Harry, an' I don' want yeh ter go readin' more inter this than there is."

"Filch." I whispered quietly as Hermione said, "Look out."

I slipped off into the shadows, hearing Filch cry out, "Oho! Out of bed so late. . ."

I hurried down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, stepping inside without knocking and hurried up to the actual office.

Severus had put his papers away, a candle lit low. He was wearing a gray nightgown, and already fast asleep. I quickly pulled out the drawing that I'd worked on all day, doing a rough sketch of Grubby-Plank and Kettleburn before putting it away for the day and got out of my robes.

I dug in the dresser and found one of Severus' gray shirts. I put that on and it fell past my knees. I climbed into bed, snuggling into his chest though he remained sleeping. I let random thoughts help me drift off to sleep.

Hermione was right. Game of Thrones was a horrible book.

⬅️➡️

[braveclementine]

Chapter 12

Warnings: violence, intentions of rape

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕴 𝖜𝖔𝖐𝖊 𝖚𝖕 because Ginny hit me in the face with a pillow, screaming Merry Christmas. I rolled over, falling onto the floor because I'd forgotten that I was sleeping on a cot.

I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. "Why'd you wake me up?" I complained.

"Because it's Christmas and we have presents!" Ginny said enthusiastically. I quickly got up off the floor, hoping my fall hadn't damaged the baby inside of me. My baby girl.

I could imagine her too. Black hair, alabaster skin, red lips. Something like Snow White really. I just didn't have a name for her yet. However, naming my child Snow White wasn't particularly appealing.

I grabbed a present from the end of my bed. Muggles left their gifts under Christmas trees. Wizards left them at the foot of the bed. Somehow, the Muggle way seemed to be more romantic.

Mrs. Weasley's present was the one that I had grabbed which contained a Weasley sweater and hot fudge cakes. Dessert wasn't necessarily good for the baby but since I'd been putting off dessert for way to long, I felt that this was an okay break.

The twins had sent me supplies from their shop and Fred had included his yearly charm. This one was a crown. I stared at it for a long time before adding it to my bracelet. Perhaps he had just seen my artwork. . . but surely not? This had to be a coincidence, but why was he giving me a crown?

Hermione had sent me books on mythical creatures. Ginny had given me a magical art set that I was going to start using very soon. I hadn't even known there were magical art sets.

Harry had gotten me chocolate, my favorite flavor from Honeydukes. Ron hadn't gotten me anything and I was glad because I hadn't given him anything and would probably have felt guilty if he had.

Dad had given me four books. It seemed to be something of a tradition to do this: A Game of Thrones, The Notebook, Into the Wild, and Realms of Tolkien: Images of Middle-Earth.

I was quite excited for Realms of Tolkien because it was the newest book in the Lord of the Rings series which happened to be one of my favorite series. Of course, it wouldn't actually have anything to do with the characters, but despite that, it was still part of one of my favorite fictional worlds.

Hagrid had sent another statuette, this one was an Acromantula. It wasn't my favorite statuette that he'd given me, but I knew why large, giant, man-eating spiders were on his mind. Aragog was sick, he was going to die. I couldn't wait for him to die either. I hoped all of his children burned in hell. But I wasn't going to tell Hagrid that.

I set the other three books aside and then got dressed and went downstairs where, to our surprise, Tonks had joined us. Well! I certainly hadn't foreseen this.

"Tonks!" I exclaimed, giving her a hug. I noticed that it was just her, Ginny, Fleur, Bill, and I in the kitchen. "I didn't think you were going to come!"

Tonks gave me a small smile. "It's only today. I thought that I should spend Christmas with you guys."

I gave her a huge smile, an encouraging one. Of course, once I traipsed to the living room, I was immediately confused. What had caused Tonks to change her mind? Tonks was supposed to have been part of Christmas lunch conversation. About her patronus changing and her clumsy nature.

I had the living room to myself and I spread all my drawings out on the floor, seeing if there was some sort of connection. I wasn't sure why I was so obsessed with these drawings. Perhaps it was because I loved reading and I wanted to know for certain that this was a real place or not.

I ended up drawing more than observing, adding more details to the already perfected scenes. A shadow here. Another paper bird in doll town. A bee flying above the ocean of honey.

"Those are really good." A voice said, shaking me out of my revere and scaring the crap out of me.

"Oh!" I gasped as the ink that I had next to me spilled over onto one of the drawings.

"Scourgify." The voice said and Tonks sat down next to me. "Sorry about that."

"My fault." I said, my heart still beating and I looked over at her. She was so different with her brown hair. "I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings."

Trang picked up the drawing of the room with the chandeliers. "This is very unusual, but very detailed. I didn't realize you were an artist?"

"It's a hobby." I said, turning my attention back to the drawings. I wasn't really sure what I was looking for. "I don't really know where these drawings came from. I can only draw them if I'm not paying attention. They're from somewhere in my subconscious. If that makes sense."

"So these places might exist." Tonks said, looking at the underground library with a glass ceiling revealing another library above it.

"I don't know." I said honestly. "It has to do with these symbols though." I handed her a blank sheet with six images on it: bee, key, sword, crown, feather, heart.

"These are unusual." Tonks said, frowning. "I wonder what they mean."

I shook my head. "Don't know."

Tonks observed the drawings and then asked, "Do you sell?"

"No, I give them as gifts." I said quickly. "Though I'm going to admit that until I figure out this mystery, I'm not giving these drawings yet."

"You should sell." Tonks said firmly. "You can definitely sell these when you're ready to part with them."

I chuckled uncomfortably. "I don't know. . . I'm not that good-"

Tonks scoffed. "This looks like a photograph Elizabeth, just with sharper details and not in color. Forget selling, if these were on a larger scale, they'd be in a museum."

I shifted where I was sitting. "Maybe. . ."

"No seriously." Tonks said, grinning, "I mean, look at these. You'd have a whole art exhibit to yourself for these drawings!"

I laughed, grateful for her words. While I wasn't entirely sure whether or not she was joking, the words lightened my heart all the same.

Tonks clapped me on the shoulder. "You don't paint your drawings?"

"Rarely." I said. "I feel that color takes away from the original drawing. But sometimes I color, it just depends."

"Tonks!" Another voice exclaimed in surprise. I looked up and saw Dad standing there with Mr. Weasley.

"Remus." Tonks said, perhaps forgetting that her and dad were having an awkward moment, in her excitement to show off my drawings like a proud mother or sister. It was a bit disconcerting. "Have you seen these drawings?"

"Oh!" I said unhappily as Tonks grabbed a couple and showed my dad my drawings. My cheeks reddened and I quickly threw the others together, putting the one that the ink had splattered on, on top so it could dry.

"Elizabeth's quite talented." Dad said, a note of pride in his voice. "Though I think these are the best drawings I've ever seen her do."

I blushed redder. "I'm going to go put these in my room." I muttered. Tonks handed me the other drawings and I hurried up the stairs. I put the drawings in a box and locked it. I felt strangely protective of these drawings. I hoped I figured out the secret fast.

At Christmas dinner, I noticed that everyone except myself, Tonks, Mrs. Weasley, and Fleur were wearing their Weasley sweaters, including Dad.

Mrs. Weasley was wearing a midnight blue hat which was glittering with stars made of either diamonds or silicon. She was also wearing a lovely golden necklace that I'd never seen her wear.

"Fred and George gave them to me!" Mrs. Weasley said to Harry, showing off the necklace. "Aren't they beautiful?"

"Well, we find we appreciate you more and more, Mum, now we're washing our own socks." George said, waving his hand in the air and then picked up the bowl of Parsnips. I giggled. "Parsnips, Remus?"

"Harry, you've got a maggot in your hair." Ginny said in a cheerful voice, leaning across the table to pick the bug out of his hair. I snorted and then buried my face into my book, losing all track of time until Mrs. Weasley said, "Arthur- it's Percy!"

I looked up, and then back down, but kept track of the conversation this time.

"What?"

Ginny and Mrs. Weasley had risen from their seats.

"Arthur, he's- he's with the Minister!"

My stomach turned.

There was a moment of silence.

The back door opened.

More painful silence.

"Merry Christmas, Mother."

I hadn't heard Percy's voice in a long time. I'd forgotten how pompous he sounded.

"Oh, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley said.

I determinedly didn't look up from my book. Hobbits were so interesting.

"You must forgive this intrusion," a different voice said and though I'd never heard it before, I knew it was the Minister's voice. "Percy and I were in the vicinity- working, you know- and he couldn't resist dropping in and seeing you all."

I snorted delicately and then bit my tongue painfully.

"Please, come in, sit down, Minister! Have a little Purkey, or some tooding. . . I mean-" Mrs. Weasley said, obviously flustered.

"No, no, my dear Molly. I don't want to intrude, wouldn't be here at all if Percy hadn't wanted to see you all so badly. . ." The Minister said.

I resisted snorting and decided to roll my eyes instead.

"Oh, Perce!" Mrs. Weasley said tearfully.

Tonks was quite tense on my right. Dad seemed just as uncomfortable on my left.

"We've only looked in for five minutes, so I'll have a stroll around the yard while you catch up with Percy. No, no, I assure you I don't want to butt in! Well, if anybody cared to show me your charming garden. . . Ah, that young girl is finished, why doesn't she take a stroll with me?"

Well, that wasn't expected. I didn't even look up as I answered, "Not interested in the proposal."

"So you do see the future?" The Minister asked. Dad had grown still as a rock at my side.

"Of course I do." I said, finally looking up at Scrimgeour. "Though originally, you were going to ask Harry to walk with you. But if you would like to know, he's not interested either."

Harry looked between me and Scrimgeour.

I looked back down at my book. "But he has a right to tell you himself so if he wants to go on a walk with you, that's up to him, not me."

"So your visions are subjective?" Scrimgeour asked. It was as though nobody else was here.

I looked up again. "Not at. . . all." My face lit up into a smile and I jumped up from the table, "Sorry, excuse me." I hurried past the minister and ran down the back lawn.

"What are you doing here?" I exclaimed, stopping in front of Severus.

"I thought you'd like to see me." Severus said, not smiling. I think he was keeping up pretense for the observer's in the house.

"The Minister is in the house." I said, pointing back at the house with my thumb.

"And you ran out here like that?" Severus asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Yes." I said with a smile that no one but he could see. His lips twitched. "Want to go on a walk?"

"Is that okay?" Severus asked, looking up at the Burrow.

"Sure." I said and turned and started away from the Burrow's windows and farther out of the garden.

Severus quickly caught up and then kept pace with me. We found a private clump of rosebushes that I had discovered from exploring the garden. It was quite secretive and I figured Mrs. Weasley had thought it quite romantic when it was grown.

The minute that we stepped inside, the rose bushes curling tightly across the entrance, Severus took my face in his hands and pressed his lips to mine fiercely.

"Mm." I gasped, pushing back with as much force as possible. I'd missed him greatly. Our lips parted, our tongues intersecting. We were more tangled together than we had been all year. I think distance does that to couples.

Perhaps an hour later, our clothes in a heap by the wall, we finally sat up, still kissing and then put our foreheads together.

"I've missed you." Severus said. "A lot. Not just for the sex either." He ran his lips down my throat hungrily. "I've missed everything." His arms wrapped around my body, pulling me tighter to his.

It was cold out, but neither of us could feel it inside of here. I was quite warm, as a matter of fact.

"I've missed you too." I whispered, pressing my lips to his forehead, placing my cheek on his hair. It was silky and soft. He smelled pleasant and strange at the same time, a combination of lemon, cinnamon, salt, and caramel.

I could hear someone calling my name, though their voice sounded far away. "Oh, we have been here for a long time, haven't we."

Severus pressed his lips to mine again and then again. "I'll see you at school I suppose?"

"I can't wait." I said, kissing his neck and then stood up, finding my clothes and put them on again. I brushed off a little dirt and then straightened my hair, letting the loose strands fall into place so that I looked much the way that I had when I'd left the Burrow. "Bye."

"Love you." Severus said, kissing my cheek.

"Love you too." I said and I exited the secret hideout, heading back up the lawn. Dad was standing out there in his brown suit, his back to me.

"Hey! Dad!" I called, jogging up a little so that I was closer. Dad turned, looking relieved.

"Where were you?" He asked in concern, his eyebrows scrunching together.

"Sev and I took a walk. I mean. . . it's our anniversary, you know?" My cheeks were bright red. I knew that our 'marriage' was harder on dad than he made it look. "Well last night, really, but... you know."

"Right." Dad said, closing his eyes. "Right, sorry, I. . .  yeah."

I put a hand on his arm and smiled. "Come on. Is the Minister gone yet?"

"Yeah." Dad said with a grimace. "Let's just say Molly's going to be upset for quite some time."

"Fred, George, and Ginny?" I guessed.

"Parsnips." Dad confirmed, smiling down at me. He put an arm around my shoulder, hugging me to his side and kissed the top of my head. "Merry Christmas sweetheart."

"Merry Christmas dad." I said, hugging him back and we headed up to the Burrow.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕬𝖘 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖒𝖆𝖘 𝖉𝖆𝖞 turned into Christmas night, Tonks, Dad, and I got ready to go. I had all my things packed, already sent back home. There was a full moon tomorrow night so dad wanted to get the two of us home. Tonks wanted to get back to her family.

Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley saw the three of us out. The only thing I had was my wand in my pocket. I felt quite content, dinner had been nice.

"Dinner was wonderful, Molly." Tonks was saying, the five of us standing out on the porch. Dad was looking out at the long wheat field that stood in front of the house. It was new to the house, perhaps two years grown. It was taller than us, it was supposed to be a sort of defense to lose ourselves in.

"Thank you Tonks, dear." Molly said and the two women hugged. Mr. Weasley was watching dad, who was staring intently at the tall stalks.

"Remus?" Mr. Weasley asked. "Everything all right?"

Dad did not answer. I looked out too, starting to feel paranoid. But I would have seen if something bad was going to happen tonight and nothing was. I wouldn't have missed something so important if something bad was going to happen tonight.

Then, a fireball seemed to come out of the sky, hitting the dry grass. The five of us watched and I drew back a little, wondering if the house would be safe. What if the Weasleys lost their home? The fire started to spread like a ring of fire around the house. No way out, no way in. But there was a gap between the fire, leading into the wheat field.

Then, there was a black trail that looked like a black fireball. It landed near the entrance- or exit depending on how you looked at it- of the fire ring.

What about the security? I asked numbly inside my head as the figure became a Bellatrix Lestrange. Tonks and Dad drew their weapons and Bellatrix dashed off through the ring. Suddenly, Harry was pushing through our ring, running after her.

"Harry, no!" Mr. Weasley yelled and suddenly, as though on instinct, I was running after him.

"Elizabeth, no!" Dad shouted angrily after me. I was hot on Harry's heels, though as he passed through the fire, the flames shot up and I was nearly burned.

I didn't falter, I continued after Harry, my wand drawn. But the grass was high and we started to get separated. I ran in the general direction that we'd been going.

I could hear a voice, Bellatrix's voice shouting in a singing way, "I KILLED SIRIUS BLACK! I KILLED SIRIUS BLACK!"

I gritted my teeth, anger filling my veins. A voice in the back of my head tried to argue against this. That I had a child to protect. I should turn around. I should go back to dad. But Harry... Harry was still out here and no one else was getting past the barrier. Besides, it was only Bellatrix. Harry and I could duel her together. But first, I had to regroup with Harry.

I cut across the tall grass, trying to find Harry's path and I suddenly came to a small clearing. I stopped. Well, Harry wasn't here. I looked around.

It was oval shaped, dirt and grass. There was a lone tree with no leaves, probably dead standing at the far end of the clearing. It was dark, and though there was no light, I could just make out the wheat swaying in the breeze.

Bellatrix was laughing like a maniac, her laugh echoing across the plain. I turned to leave and then was thrown to the ground by a Death Eater, once again- not expected.

"Greyback!" I gasped, struggling against his hold. His fingernails were sharp, digging into my arms. His knees were locked on either side of my legs and for the first time, real fear shot through my veins.

"I bet your father's talked all about me." Greyback said, smiling to reveal pointed teeth.

"Ugh." I made a noise while struggling against him, trying to free myself. Something was trickling down my arm, either blood, water, or sweat, I wasn't sure which.

He chuckled. "The Dark Lord's going to be pleased when I bring you in. Perhaps he'll let me have a taste of you as a reward."

I could only imagine how dad would react if I was turned into a werewolf. My grip tightened on my wand and I cried, "Releshio."

Greyback ducked at the last moment, grabbing my wand and tossing it a few feet away. I expected him to be angry, but he was still smiling. "Feisty one, aren't ya?" He raised a hand, showing me his sharpened fingernails, placing his pointer finger on my cheek. They trailed down my cheek, cutting it open just a little bit with his nail.

I clenched my teeth together so as not to give him what he wanted: sounds of pain.

But he was not deterred, he was smiling bigger, showing all of his teeth which was scarier than ever.

I swung my fist- he had let go of my arm- connecting with his head. His head snapped backwards, I think more in surprise than pain. I wrenched myself free, throwing myself towards my wand. He jumped on my back, flipping me over, knocking the breath out of me.

In one, quick, slashing motion, my shirt fell open, having been cut down the middle. But the cut was deeper than just my shirt. A red line from my shoulder blades to my pants appeared, blood swelling and then leaking over the sides. It had gone perfectly down the middle. The only part was my bra, still intact, though the connector was frayed.

He leered at me, "Full moon's tomorrow, didn't you know?" He asked. I gasped in pain, just a little gasp as his finger nail made short, concise movements where my ribs were. They were shallow, he wasn't going to kill me- I was needed by Voldemort and for once, I was glad about that.

I shivered involuntarily as he lowered his mouth to my neck, his teeth against my skin. I could feel the points and I wondered how he got them all to be so pointed. Did he sand them with sandpaper? Carve them? File them? Perhaps he had dentures made completely out of canine teeth.

"How about I bite?" Greyback whispered in my ear, his fingernail, slicing down my leg and I let out a scream of pain, because these cuts were much, much deeper. I wouldn't have been surprised if they cut to the bone.

No one, I thought randomly, should have such sharp fingernails. What a safety hazard. I started to laugh hysterically, delirious with pain.

The pain was blinding, I tried to get air in my lungs, starting to hyperventilate. Or maybe I was screaming. I tried to recover my breathing. My leg was on fire. I could smell the stench of blood, feel Greyback's tongue on my stomach.

He pulled himself upright, showing his teeth which were now covered in blood- my blood. He leaned forward, his teeth grazing my ear as he whispered again, "Should I bite?"

I was starting to feel hazy. Blood loss, I thought randomly. I watched through blurry eyes as he threw his head up dramatically to come down and bite me before he was gone, thrown off of me, somewhere behind me. I heard a thunk. Perhaps he had hit the tree. There was a whooshing noise.

"Elizabeth?" the voice was very far away, but familiar. Kind. "Elizabeth, can you hear me?"

Yes. Yes, I could, but my lips wouldn't say so. My brain seemed to have reached some sort of block. Words didn't seem to be able to come through my mouth. My eyes didn't seem to want to move. A hand felt along my neck, checking for a pulse. Was my heart beating? Was this dying? Who was I hurting right now?

The moon was bright, almost a full moon. Dad should be gone by now, right? Dad was here, wasn't he? Who else would be leaning over my body, holding my face in their hands? Severus, of course. Perhaps Fred. Cedric. . . perhaps I was dead, Cedric was trying to pull my up, join the land of the dead.

Shouldn't I have gone back as a ghost? I mean, Dad would miss me, wouldn't he? But if I was a ghost, I wouldn't see James or Mum or Sirius or Cedric and since Cedric was the one pulling me up, then I must be dead and not a ghost. Oh poor Dad. Poor Lupin.

And my child. Severus and mine- our child. I wanted to sit up in a panic, I wanted to move and see if my child was alright. My eyelids seemed heavy, the sky was swimming, turning orange. A honey ocean. And I blacked out.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

". . .𝖈𝖆𝖚𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖎𝖓𝖏𝖚𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘?" A cold voice asked, something was being dabbed along the cuts on my stomach.

"Greyback dug his claws in her." an anxious voice replied.

There was gritting of teeth. I murmured something incoherently.

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth can you hear me?" The same anxious voice asked.

But I was gone, fading back into the black again. There were oceans of honey and I walked down a dollstreet. But it wasn't really a dollhouse or a doll neighborhood because I fit the size of it all. I could walk inside any of the dollhouses and throw a piece of paper into the thimble trashcan. The paper birds floated above me.

I blinked my eyes open. Some time had passed obviously. It was sunset now, judging by the sky out the window of my bedroom.

I tried to sit up and gasped in pain. Someone gave a start near me and I turned to see Severus, sitting up, his wand raised. He threw it on the desk. "You're awake."

"Yeah." I muttered, "I-"

I didn't get another word out. Severus pressed his lips to mine.

"Do you know how worried I was?" He asked after he pulled apart and I gasped for air. He ran a hand back, moving his hair out of his face. "I found out from the Dark Lord that you had been hurt. He knows you're pregnant!"

"H-?" I started but Severus seemed to have anticipated my questions.

"Because you had a run in with Greyback!" Severus said angrily. "He's part wolf, more werewolf than human. He has instincts Elizabeth! He gauged your reactions! He felt the second heart beat! He could smell the child!"

I started to hyperventilate again and Severus quickly changed his tune, holding my face in his, "It's alright, just calm down."

Was he talking to me or himself?

I took in deep breaths, holding one of Severus' hands to my face with my own. When my breathing finally settled down, he asked as calmly as possible, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Harry went after Bellatrix." I whispered. "I hadn't foreseen any of it, like it wasn't supposed to happen in the first place. I thought it was just Bellatrix. I didn't think anyone except Harry and I could get through the fire ring. I thought Bellatrix was trying to lure Harry. I thought the two of us could take her down together."

"Until you got separated?" Severus asked, still calmly.

"Yes." I said reluctantly. "I didn't know there would be two. I. . . what happened? Do you know?"

"Your father found you. He and Tonks had caught up to Harry and Ginny. He realized immediately that you weren't with them. He went off on his own to find you, leaving the others with Tonks and eventually Arthur Weasley. He heard you. . . he heard you scream. He found you, threw Greyback off of you. Both Bellatrix and Greyback disapparated. He rushed you home, owled me, but by that time, I was already on my way to the Burrow on instructions from the Dark Lord to heal you."

"Where's dad?" I asked quickly.

"Full moon passed, he'll be home soon." Severus said, smoothing my hair back.

"How. . . how bad are the cuts on my stomach?" I asked, "I mean, I know the ones on my leg are going to be bad, I'll be surprised if I'm not disabled again, but I really only want to know if the baby is okay."

"The baby is fine." Severus said in a soothing voice. "Perfectly healthy. Greyback didn't want to kill you, your blood isn't worth his life if the Dark Lord found out that he had killed you."

"Good to know." I said, taking in a deep breath. "The baby's fine?"

"The baby's fine." Severus confirmed.

"Good." I said.

"What baby?" Another voice said behind us and I looked up and saw that dad was standing in the doorway. He'd obviously just come home, he still smelled like the running wind.

"Ah. . ." I said weakly as Severus looked between dad and I.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. "You didn't tell him?"

I flushed, angry at him for not being more tactful. "I was going to! But I didn't want the Weasleys to overhear!"

"You could have told me before we left for the Burrow." Dad said, looking furiously at Severus.

"I wanted to wait until I was sure I wouldn't miscarry." I sighed. "That was the real reason. I didn't tell anyone."

But Dad wasn't listening. He strode across the room, grabbing the front of Severus robes, and yanked him out of his chair, slamming him against the wall. "YOU GOT MY DAUGHTER PREGANT! SHE'S NOT EVEN OF AGE YET!"

"Dad!" I exclaimed, trying to get out of bed. My leg seemed to be stuck to something, not wanting to move.

"YOU BASTARD!" Dad shouted, slamming him against the wall again. Severus did nothing to try and defend himself against dad's anger. His head smacked against the wall.

I finally swung my legs over the bed and got to my feet, immediately collapsing in a state of shock and pain. Severus fell to the ground too, dad having released him immediately, to help me into bed.

"God Elizabeth, you can't just get out of bed like that." Dad said furiously, smoothing the blankets back over me.

"Remus-" Severus started and dad immediately rounded on him, a maniac glint in his eyes.

"You got my daughter pregnant!" Dad shouted.

"Remus!" Severus said, not sounding anger or defiant, but rather desperate and pleading.

"You've been. . . you've been sleeping together!" Dad's eyes were nearly bulging out of his head. You should've told him, a voice in the back of my head said dully.

"I love her Remus!" Severus shouted over him. "I know, you still have issues with that, and I get it. But I love her, I love our baby, and I'm never, ever going to leave her. I'm going to protect her, Remus!"

Dad was breathing heavily, glaring from me to Severus. "You should have told me immediately, Elizabeth." Dad said angrily.

"I'm sorry." I whispered through numb lips, trying to keep from crying. I hated disappointing dad. I hated when he got angry at me. I hated it.

Dad sighed, running a hand through his hair, looking frustrated. A tear fell down my face and I quickly turned my head away, lifting a hand to wipe it away and hissed in pain. I had forgotten that much face had been cut too.

"Are you alright?" Dad and Severus asked at the same time.

"Fine." I muttered. "I just forgot about the cuts on my face."

Dad sank into a chair by my bed, though not the same one that Severus had been occupying moments ago. He had his face in his hands and I couldn't see any emotions on his face. Severus was still standing up and he picked up his wand. I supposed he was going to leave.

"Wait." Dad said as Severus headed towards the doorway. Severus paused, turning to look back at Dad.

Dad looked up at him, and I still couldn't see his face. His back was now to me.

"You swear your going to take care of her. Forever." Dad said in a cold, hard voice.

"If I wasn't already in an Unbreakable vow, I'd make one with you right now, swearing that I will." Severus said in an even voice.

Dad nodded and Severus headed to the doorway. As he started to exit dad said, "If Draco Malfoy were to harm Elizabeth?"

"Then I suppose, I would die, wouldn't I?" Severus said, without looking back, and he walked down the stairs. I never heard the front door click.

Dad turned back to me. "You-"

"Are in big trouble?" I finished for him.

Dad sighed. "I really, really wished you'd waited until you'd been properly married and were of age, but I'm not mad at you."

I sighed but said nothing. Anything that I said would just alert dad to how long Severus and I really had been having sex and that would not be good.

After a long moment of silence dad asked, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know." I said cautiously. "Professor Trelawney said it's a boy so I'm pretty sure it's a girl."

Dad chuckled half-heartedly, still looking extremely stressed. "When did you find out?"

I hesitated and then said, "A few weeks when school started."

Dad closed his eyes, clenching his hands together and then rubbing his temple. "And why didn't you tell me again?"

I lowered my eyes to the purple blanket. "I. . . I want this child, you know? Severus and I are kind've married and I was okay with having a family. But I also know the dangers of magic school." I laughed a little, close to crying, "I didn't want to tell you or anyone until I knew that I was past the second trimester, you know? I was going to tell you, I just wanted her-or him- to be a certain thing."

Dad got up from his chair, coming to sit on the bed and hold my hand. "I'm still really angry with Severus."

"I know, I'm sorry." I said. "I would've preferred waiting until I was of age and also officially married and out of school, of course, but I already love the baby dad."

Dad sighed. "I know, I-"

"You're my dad." I said, giving him a gentle smile, looking at the situation from his point of view. "I know this isn't what you wanted. I know you wanted me to marry someone my age and if I did go older, you would not have chosen Sev. I know you would've preferred for us to have waited until I was out of school before we had a child. I know. You're my dad. Your supposed to protect me. But I'm okay dad, this is okay."

"I still don't think you should have made me a grandfather this young." Dad said, sounding slightly disgruntled.

I laughed lightly but that hurt my chest so I stopped quickly.

"How are the wounds?" Dad asked, pulling back the sheet to reveal the bandages. He winced. "I should've gotten there sooner."

"My fault." I said. "I shouldn't have followed Harry."

There was a paused and then dad gave me a curious look and asked, "And you really didn't see any of this?"

I nodded. "It was like, while I was there, like it wasn't. . . wasn't supposed to happen, you know?"

"Impulsive decision?" Dad asked.

"I don't know." I whispered. "Even now that it happened, it still doesn't feel real, like it never happened. I might've thought it a dream if this hadn't happened." I gestured to my stomach and face. "How's my leg?"

"Bad." Dad said bluntly. "Cut down to the bone. Madam Pomfrey was here too. She wanted to transport you back to Hogwarts but Dumbledore said no."

"Dumbledore was here?" I asked in surprise.

Dad hesitated. "Does he know. . .?"

"Oh, yes." I said, blushing. "He did a spell on me a month or so ago when I started er- showing. It's so the other students and teachers don't know I'm pregnant. Madam Pomfrey knows too, she's going to deliver our child." I was whispering now, trying to make things easier on dad, "Sev suspects Professor McGonagall might know because Dumbledore rarely keeps anything from her. Trang knows too and that's it."

"And Trelawney?" Dad asked.

I hesitated, "I don't know. I didn't tell her. I was at Slughorn's Christmas party the day before break. She was ranting about Firenze and I got defensive. She kind've just looked at me and said 'it'll be a boy of course' and then went back to talking to Luna."

"Perhaps it will be a boy then." Dad said, sounding distracted.

"It's a girl." I said firmly. "I can feel it."

"Do you have a name?"

For someone who had been so angry about this outcome, he sure was curious.

"No. I had boy names, funnily enough. But I don't really have any girl names. Trang's suggested Lily, of course, but I've never really liked the idea of naming babies after dead people. It's seem sadder than it should be, I think. Though that's a hypocritical view because I was thinking of Cedric as a boy name." I sighed. "But I feel almost as though it would be wrong to name my girl Lily, like the names taken."

"Maybe someone you know will name their daughter Lily too." Dad said and then after a moment of silence he added, "Probably Harry."

I nodded. "Probably Harry."

And then we sat there for a long time, holding hands, until I drifted off to sleep.

⬅️➡️

[braveclementine]

Chapter 11

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

"𝖂𝖊'𝖗𝖊 𝖌𝖔𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔 the Burrow for Christmas?" I asked, a bit put out with dad. "Why?"

Dad looked at me curiously and said, "Molly invited me to stay for a couple of days. She thought you were going to be staying at Hogwarts this Christmas since that was Trang's plans. It's a bit late to say no now. And besides," he tacked on, "I thought you'd like this turn of events."

I sighed. "Nothing against the Weasleys or Harry. I just really didn't want to hang out with Ron this Christmas that's all. But I'll go and I'll stay with Ginny and Fleur and it'll be fine, dad. Besides, this is what you want and I'm okay with that." I smiled over my tea and immediately dropped the smile when he returned to his newspaper.

I watched him anxiously, searching inside of me to see whether or not I had the guts to tell dad that I was pregnant. I'd told Trang that I'd wanted to wait until we were past the miscarrying stage. But now that I was actually sitting here, face to face with him, it was hard to keep the secret inside of me. And the fact remained- I didn't want to keep it a secret. Not from my father.

I got up from the table slowly and headed upstairs for my room. I hadn't stayed here in a long time. Neither had dad. He'd only come back because of Christmas and my arrival. There was dust covering everything, almost as though it was a ghost house.

I picked up a picture frame off the desk and blew dust off of it. I'd framed a picture of mum and dad amongst other pictures. Mum smiled up at me and dad winked. I wondered what dad-James- would've thought if he knew I was having the baby of the man he had hated the most. I wondered how he would have reacted.

Then again, I doubted that I would even have been attracted to Severus if my parents were alive. I would've grown up, knowing dad hated him, perhaps hating him myself.

I wondered what mum would've thought. She'd liked Severus, they'd been friends even before school. Had she loved him?

But that question made me think of all of things that were going on in my life so I shut them down. I set the picture frame back on the desk.

I pulled the comforter off the bed to shake it out in the garden to rid it of the dust. I'd have used my wand, but I didn't quite feel up to magic which was weird.

Severus is much older than you.

I gathered the comforter in my arms and started walking down the stairs.

Much older.

I opened the back door and stepped out into the freezing garden.

Same age as both your dads.

I let go of the comforter, shaking off the dust. The wind was starting to bite into my cheeks.

I mean really. What were you thinking, marrying a man twice your age?

I closed the door behind me, carrying the comforter up the stairs. I placed it back over the bed. I headed to the trunk to start unpacking my things.

He was in love with your mum. I mean really?

"Shut up." I muttered aloud, tossing my art pad onto my bed.

I mean your mum and him could've gotten married and had you. Do you know how weird that is?

I ignored the stupid voice in the back of my head by putting a Beatles record on the phonograph. Dad had gotten it for me when I became a music fan many Christmases ago. Of course, it wasn't one of the really really old ones with the tube or whatever protruding from the box.

Jojo was a man who thought he was a longer, but he knew it couldn't last. . .Jojo left his home for Tuscan, Arizona, for some California grass. . .get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged. . .

No, this one was a little rectangular metal box. Pink. You put a small record on it and it played music. I knew that technology had advanced so that I could listen to music on a Walkman but I liked Phonographs. Especially for old music like the Beatles or Beach Boys or Queen or that one dude from America. . .Michael Jackson.

Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman, but she was another man. . .All the girls around her say she's got it coming, But she gets it while she can. . .get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged. . .

Besides, technology and magic didn't mix. Older was always better in wizarding households.

I laid down on the bed, letting the record go through the songs while I tried to figure out what I wanted to draw.

Maybe I should name my baby Jojo if it was a boy, Loretta if it was a girl. I liked the Beatles that much.

I set my brain to random, almost doodling, in a way. When I finished drawing, there was a woman with no facial features or even hair. All she had was a defined neck and jewelry. The jewelry was a necklace with three charms each under the other. A bee, a key, and a sword.

I stared at it for a little longer, randomly shading parts of the face before coming back, adding more detail to the three items. I didn't know what it meant, but it felt important to me.

I wondered what the significance was of the three items. A bee, a key, and a sword.

Crown. Feather. Heart.

I blinked. Bee, Key, Sword, Crown, Feather, Heart. Did that mean anything? I certainly couldn't think of anything.

Suddenly, I was looking at the drawing with a bit of fear and apprehension.

. . .all my troubles seem so far away. Now it looks as though there here to stay oh yesterday, came suddenly. . .

I shut the record off and threw my art pad across the room. I shut my eyes, pushing the palms of my hands into my eyes. I sighed. I was overreacting about something stupid. I'd probably just drawn the bee and the key and the sword because they were easy objects to draw. That was all.

I got up and left my bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I trooped down the stairs and went into the kitchen, looking for something to do.

I ended up cooking a small dinner. Dad knew something was bothering me and he kept from prying for as long as he could manage which, with dad, was about three and a half minutes.

"What's wrong?" He demanded.

"Nothing's wrong." I lied, twirling my fork in the spaghetti.

"Something's clearly bothering you." He prodded.

I bit my lip. "It's not the right time to tell you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dad asked, frowning. He was looking at me, but I wouldn't meet his eyes.

"I just mean that when it's time to tell you, I'll tell you, okay?" I asked, slightly impatient and immediately felt bad. I sighed. "It's just... I drew something earlier and I don't know why I drew it. That's all."

"Like you might be drawing something you haven't foreseen yet?" Dad asked, sounding curious.

"Perhaps." I said slowly. He could be right but I couldn't see what importance a bee, a key, and a sword had to do with... well anything.

"What did you draw?" Dad asked, still prying.

I got up from the table and went upstairs, opening the door and grabbing the art pad before walking back downstairs and putting the art pad in front of dad.

"I don't understand." Dad said after looking at it for a few minutes. "What was so...hmm frightening's not really the word I'm looking for."

"When I was thinking the words, bee, key, and sword, a voice answered in my head saying crown, feather, heart. I mean, what does any of that even mean?" I asked desperately. Dad had to have answers, he had to.

"Maybe you were thinking of adding a crown, feather, and heart." Dad suggested, laying the sketch flat on the table. "She has no face, right? So maybe a crown ontop of her head, heart shaped face is right here-" Dad said, outlining the face with his finger, "I'm not sure about feathers. Perhaps a costume of some kind?"

"A mask." I said. "Masquerade mask."

I felt relieved and foolish at the same time. I burst out laughing and crying at the same time.

"Elizabeth!" Dad exclaimed, looking extremely alarmed. I laughed and cried harder.

"Sorry." I said, wiping my face with my sleeved. "Let's just say I feel quite foolish and relieved at the same time so my feelings were quite mixed."

Dad laughed, shaking his head. "Hearing voices in your head is just your subconscious helping you out, that's all."

"Right." I said, picking up the sketch. "I'm going to go ahead and work on this a bit more. Night Dad." I kissed the top of his head, noticing that there was more gray in his hair than before.

I was halfway across the living room when I hesitated, realizing I hadn't asked him about how he was doing.

"Dad?" I asked hesitantly. "How... how are things here?"

"Well I haven't been here much or really at all." Dad said cautiously.

"With Tonks." I said.

"I haven't seen her." Dad said firmly.

"You do realize-"

"That Tonks was the woman you saw me with when you looked into my future in your third year?" Dad finished for me. "Yes, I know."

"So why won't you say yes?" I asked.

"I thought you might tell me when I say yes." Dad said and a faint blush crept over his cheeks.

"I see." I said sternly. "but I'm not supposed to control your love life dad."

"I know." Dad said, blushing even more.

"But I'll let you know when the time is right, okay?" I said.

"Thanks sweetheart."

"No problem Dad, night."

"Night."

I hurried up the steps and threw the art pad on my bed as I passed my bedroom. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, looking into the mirror. I wondered if there was a counterspell I could do so that I could see the baby bump. I decided not to experiment though. Not now.

I went back into my bedroom, closing the door behind me, picking up my charcoal pencil and started working on the drawing.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕯𝖆𝖉 𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 me on Christmas Eve to a point before the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley was happy to see us and lamented her disappointment that Tonks wouldn't be here. Dad gave a very tight smile and exclaimed his disappointment as well.

I dropped my stuff off in Ginny's room. Ginny was happy to see me, but more because I was there to relieve her from having to hang with Fleur than my physical presence.

Around dinner, we all sat in the living room which had been decorated with hundreds of paper chains. Every sat, talking in small groups and doing our own things. Dad was staring into the fireplace, looking preoccupied. Fleur was talking loudly with Bill in a corner, mostly commenting on her dislike of Celestina Warbeck, who was singing on the radio. I'd never cared for wizarding singers. I preferred the Muggle ones.

Mrs. Weasley was sitting in a chair, knitting something, probably a sweater. She kept dabbing her eyes with her knitted item while listening to the music. Fred, George, and Ginny started a game of exploding snap which started covering both the music and the complaints of Fleur. Mrs. Weasley kept turning up the radio with her wand.

Harry was sitting next to Mr. Weasley who was peeling satsuma and falling asleep at the same time.

I was sitting in the corner, surrounded by artwork. After drawing the bee, key, and sword necklace, I had branched from my subconscious with many drawings.

There were underground libraries, drawn in miniscule detail. I'd never seen these places before nor had I ever dreamt of them or even thought of them. It was peculiar but I continued to delve into the artwork, trying to find some connection.

I wondered if the place existed, if I would visit it in the future and just couldn't see it yet. I had drawn different rooms because each room was different, quite unlike the others and yet, they all belonged to the same place.

There was a room with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling at odd heights and resting on the floor and anywhere in between.

There was a room that looked like a doll town. A doll house, a doll street, doll trees, doll birds, doll everything. Trash cans made from thimbles. Popsicle stick fences.

A bedroom that somehow I knew was moss green though I had not colored it. There were two paintings hanging on the walls, also drawn in great detail. A closet that had clothes that fit you and a bathroom door opened so reveal a shower with many soaps in the dish holders.

It was too realistic. I had never drawn anything so realistic looking. And there were symbols that kept showing up if you looked correctly. The bee. The key. The Sword. A design in the wall, the shape of the pillow, everything had some distinct look. The Crown. The Feather. The Heart. I didn't know what it meant and it felt. . . it felt as though it was from a different world.

"We danced to this when we were eighteen! Do you remember, Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley's voice brought me back to reality. I looked up.

"Oh yes. . . marvelous tune. . ." Mr. Weasley said sleepily. He turned to Harry and muttered something.

Harry grinned and I heard him say, "No problem. Has it been busy at the Ministry?"

I crept a little closer, leaving my artwork in the corner.

"Very, I wouldn't mind if we were getting anywhere, but of the three arrests we've made in the last couple of months, I doubt that one of them is a genuine Death Eater- only don't repeat that Harry."

"They're not still holding Stan Shunpike, are they?" Harry asked.

"I'm afraid so. I know Dumbledore's tried appealing directly to Scrimgeour about Stan. . . I mean, anybody who has actually interviewed him agrees that he's about as much a Death Eater as this satsuma. . . but the top levels want to look as though they're making some progress, and 'three arrests' sounds better than 'three mistaken arrests and releases'. . . but again, this is all top secret. . ."

"I won't say anything." Harry said. There was some silence for a moment while Harry seemed to gather his thoughts. "Mr. Weasley, you know what I told you at the station when we were setting off for school?"

"I checked, Harry. I went and searched the Malfoy's house. There was nothing, either broken or whole, that shouldn't have been there." Mr. Weasley said quickly.

"Yeah, I know, I saw in the Prophet that you'd looked. . . but this is something different. . . Well, something more. . ." Harry said, "I overheard a conversation between Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy. Snape was saying that Draco couldn't afford to make mistakes. He knows that Malfoy is the one that cursed Katie Bell, but Draco wouldn't say anything. He just said that Katie must've had an enemy. Snape tried using Occlumency on Draco but he kept him out and asked him what he was hiding from Voldemort and Draco said he wasn't hiding anything, but was trying to keep Snape out. Snape asked Draco if he was trying to avoid his interference with whatever Draco is doing. Snape said he made the unbreakable vow with his mother to protect Draco but Draco told him to break the promise, that he didn't need protection. Draco also said that he's got powerful people on his side."

There was silence except for the crackling fire, exploding snap, and Celestina's horrid singing.

"Has it occurred to you, Harry, that Snape was simply pretending-?" Mr. Weasley started.

"Pretending to offer help, so that he could find out what Malfoy's up to? Yeah, I thought you'd say that. But how do we know?" Harry interrupted.

"It isn't our business to know." Dad said. My eyes flicked to him. I hadn't realized he'd been listening. "It's Dumbledore's business. Dumbledore trusts Severus, and that ought to be good enough for all of us."

"But just say- just say Dumbledore's wrong about Snape-" Harry said.

"People have said it, many times. It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgment. I do; therefore, I trust Severus." Dad said solidly, his eyes flicking to me and back. Harry looked at me for a second too before saying, "But Dumbledore can make mistakes. He says it himself. And you- do you honestly like Snape?"

Dad looked at me again and then at Harry and sighed, "I neither like nor dislike Severus. No, Harry, I am speaking the truth." he tacked on as Harry rolled his eyes. "We shall never be bosom friends, perhaps... though we'll end up seeing each other much more frequently than I'd like-" dad put a hand on my shoulder. "but I do not forget that during the year I taught at Hogwarts, Severus made the Wolfsbane Potion for me every month, made it perfectly, so that I did not have to suffer as I usually do at the full moon."

"But he 'accidentally' let it slip that you're a werewolf, so you had to leave!" Harry said angrily.

Dad shrugged unconcerned. "The news would have leaked out anyway. We both know he wanted my job, but he could have wreaked much worse damaged on me by tampering with the potion. He kept me healthy. I must be grateful."

"Maybe he didn't dare mess with the potion with Dumbledore watching him!" Harry exclaimed. "Or because Elizabeth's your daughter!"

Dad inclined his head at Harry with a small smile. "You are determined to hate him, Harry. And I understand; With James as your father, with Sirius as your godfather, you have inherited an old prejudice. By all means tell Dumbledore what you have told Arthur and me, but do not expect him to share your view of the matter; do not even expect him to be surprised by what you tell him. It might have been on Dumbledore's orders that Severus questioned Draco."

"Well yes and no." I said without thinking. "Severus quite knew about Draco's assignment long before school started. So Dumbledore also knew before school started. Draco's mother and Bellatrix visited Severus because Narcissa wanted Severus to try and convince Voldemort to do the job instead of Draco. If Draco fails, Voldemort will kill his family."

"How do you know that?" Harry and Dad asked together.

I opened my mouth and closed it, a blush creeping into my cheeks. How was dad to know that I had been visiting Severus during the first week of summer while he was underground?

I thought I was saved when the song ended on the radio and there was clapping, which Mrs. Weasley joined in with.

"Eez eet over? Thank goodness, what an 'orrible-" Fleur started.

"Shall we have a nightcap, then?" Mr. Weasley interrupted loudly, jumping to his feet. "Who wants eggnog?"

"Elizabeth." Dad said as I got up to go and grab and eggnog.

I sighed, sitting back down. "I was there when the unbreakable vow was made." I muttered.

"How?" Dad asked sharply.

I shifted in my seat, unable to look him in the eyes. "Cat form."

Dad gritted his teeth. "And you thought that safe?"

"I didn't know they were going to be there." I said defensively. "It was just supposed to be Severus and I. Wormtail was in a different part of the house. It was a surprise visit!"

"Why were you at his house in the first place?" Dad asked, slightly red in the face.

I hesitated and then said, "Because he couldn't leave his house, Wormtail would get suspicious."

Dad sighed, running a hand through his less red more gray hair.

"This is good!" Harry said and both of us looked at him. I'd forgotten that he had been a part of the conversation. "You can give us information based on-"

"I'm not spying on my husband." I snapped angrily.

"Oh come on Elizabeth." Harry said impatiently. "You have to know what's going on. You haven't said anything about your visions and you already know that Draco's up to something so what is it?"

"I don't know." I said flatly and I got up to go and grab an eggnog.

I grabbed one and stood nearby, listening to the conversation that Harry and Dad were now having.

". . . why I haven't been able to write, Harry, sending letters to you and Elizabeth would have been something of a giveaway." Dad was saying.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I've been living among my fellows, my equals. Werewolves. Nearly all of them are on Voldemort's side. Dumbledore wanted a spy and here I was. . . ready-made." Dad sounded extremely bitter, something that I didn't blame him for.

"I am not complaining; it is necessary work and who can do it better than I? However, it has been difficult gaining their trust. I bear the unmistakable signs of having tried to live among wizards, you see, whereas they have shunned normal society and live on the margins, stealing- and sometimes killing- to eat."

"How come they like Voldemort?"

"They think that, under his rule, they will have a better life. And it is hard to argue with Greyback out there. . ." Dad trailed off, probably remembering grandfather and his own past.

"Who's Greyback?" Harry asked stupidly.

"You haven't heard of him?" Dad asked and I saw his hands close up convulsively out of the corner of my eye. "Fenrir Greyback is, perhaps, the most savage werewolf alive today. He regards it as his mission in life to bite and to contaminate as many people as possible; he wants to create enough werewolves to overcome the wizards. Voldemort has promised him prey in return for his services. Greyback specializes in children. . . Bite them young, he says, and raise them away from their parents, raise them to hate normal wizards. Voldemort has threatened to unleash him upon people's sons and daughters; it is a threat that usually produces good results." Dad paused and then said, "It was Greyback who bit me."

"What? When- when you were a kid, you mean?" Harry asked, sounding astounded.

"Yes. My father had offended him. I did not know, for a very long time, the identity of the werewolf who had attacked me; I even felt pity for him, thinking that he had had no control, knowing by then how it felt to transform. But Greyback is not like that. At the full moon, he positions himself close to victims, ensuring that he is near enough to strike. He plans it all. And this is the man Voldemort is using to marshal the werewolves. I cannot pretend that my particular brand of reasoned argument is making much headway against Greyback's insistence that we werewolves deserve blood, that we ought to revenge ourselves on normal people-"

"But you are normal!" Harry interrupted fiercely and I made my way to sit down by them again. "You've just got a- a problem-"

Dad and I both laughed, though dad laughed louder than I did. "Sometimes you remind me of James. He called it my 'furry little problem' in company. Many people were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit."

Mr. Weasley handed Dad a glass of eggnog which he accepted. Dad also looked quite more cheerful and I was glad that Harry had said what he had said. It was hard to make dad look happy anymore.

"Have you ever heard of someone called the Half-Blood Prince?" Harry asked hesitantly and I nearly glared at him.

"The Half-Blood what?" Dad has curiously.

"Prince." Harry stated again.

Dad was smiling now. "There are no Wizarding Princes. Is this a title you're thinking of adopting? I should have thought being 'the Chosen One' would be enough."

"It's nothing to do with me! The Half-Blood Prince is someone who used to go to Hogwarts, I've got his old Potions book. He wrote spells all over it, spells he invented. One of them was Levicorpus-"

"Oh, that one had a great vogue during my time at Hogwarts. There were a few months in my fifth year. . ." Dad continued on reminiscently but I was no longer listening, but watching.

Dad and Harry got along quite well. In a way, they connected on a level that Dad and I never had. Perhaps that was because I was his daughter. Perhaps it was because I was a girl. Perhaps it was because I wasn't James nor looked like him. I wondered if dad would have liked it better if I'd had black hair and brown eyes rather than the red hair so that I looked like Lily. But really, I didn't look like Lily, did I? I looked like Lupin. His brown eyes, his brown-red hair. Even our faces were something similar.

I got up, heading back to my corner, studying my art again. I took up the charcoal pen and in my melancholy thoughts, started to draw again with almost a blank stare.

When I was done with the drawing, I noticed that the room was empty except for Mr and Mrs. Weasley and Dad. They were deep in discussion at the table over eggnog. It sounded like Order business. I wondered if any of them still knew that I was awake and over here.

I observed the drawing for the first time, holding it up for better light. It was a ship. Perhaps a pirate like ship. At the wheel, piloting the ship was a girl wearing bunny ears. The water that the ship was not sailing on was not water, but honey. There was a black sky above them with no stars.

I stacked the drawings together, leaving the newest one on top and got up and headed for the stairs. I hurried up the stairs and entered the bedroom where Ginny was already sleeping and Fleur was getting into bed, wearing a long, white, flowy nightgown.

I set the drawings to the side and climbed into bed. I lay there for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. Perhaps it was imagination from all the art, but I felt that I could see a bee in the ceiling. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of a ship sailing on honey. 

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[braveclementine]

Chapter 10

Warnings: 18+ readers only, mentions of nudity

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

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"𝖂𝖍𝖔 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 taking to Slughorn's Christmas Party?" Trang asked as we sat down in the library.

"Er- probably no one." I muttered, "Why?"

"That Zabini guy seems like a bit of a er, option." Trang smirked though she looked a bit sour.

I snorted, "Yeah. . . Who are you bringing?"

Trang rolled her eyes, "I'm not going."

"You're not!?" I was legitimately surprised.

Trang smirked again. "Nope. Oliver's not here, I'm not going."

"Got it!" I nearly shouted and Madam Pince's head swiveled towards me and I quickly ducked my head. "We go together." I hissed.

Trang looked at me for a second and then said, "True, alright then."

"You agree?" I asked.

"Well, we're both dating other people that we can't go with so we should just go with each other." Trang said simply, pulling Transfiguration homework towards her and dipping her quill in ink. Then she looked at her quill, wrinkling her nose, "You know, in America, we used pens, and they are much easier to write with."

"I used pens my first year here." I said, smirking. "Believe me, it's best to use quills."

Trang shrugged, "I'll take your word on that."

Suddenly, Hermione entered the library, in a huffy mood.

"Guess she just left Ron and Lavender." I muttered under my breath to Trang who glowered with anger. She, like me, didn't particularly like Ron at this moment.

Ron and Lavender had been dating for about a week or so now. Every time I saw them, they were kissing, wrapped around each other. Harry seemed quite embarrassed by that and whenever Hermione saw it, she disappeared. I had the strangest urge to hit him every time that I saw him, though I knew this was just a step so that he could get to the true relationship he was meant to be in.

"Hi Hermione!" I said brightly. "We were just talking about the Christmas party, are you taking anyone yet?"

"No." Hermione replied huffily, pulling our arithmancy charts and books. Trang and I exchanged a look and quickly turned to our homework.

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𝕬 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖕𝖑𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖞𝖘 later, I headed to the library and saw that Hermione and Harry were sitting at a wooden table aways away. I quickly hurried over, sitting down as Harry said, ". . . all the owls were being searched. So how come these girls are able to bring love potions into school? Hi Liz."

"Fred and George send them disguised as perfumes and cough potions, it's part of their Owl Order Service." Hermione said.

"Hello Harry." I replied, pulling out my charms book.

"You know a lot about it." Harry said.

Hermione gave him a nasty look and said, "it was all on the back of the bottles they showed Ginny, Trang, and me in the summer. I don't go around putting potions in people's drinks. . . or pretending to, either, which is just as bad. . ."

I rolled my eyes, "It was just a tactic Hermione."

"Never mind that. The point is, Filch is being fooled, isn't he? These girls are getting stuff into the school disguised as something else! So why couldn't Malfoy have brought the necklace into the school-?" Harry started and Hermione immediately shut him down.

"Oh, Harry. . . not that again. . ."

"Come on, why not?" Harry demanded.

"Look, Secrecy Sensors detect jinxes, curses, and concealment charms, don't they? They're used to find Dark Magic and Dark objects. They'd have picked up a powerful curse, like the one on that necklace, within seconds. But something that's just been put in the wrong bottle wouldn't register- and anyway, love potions aren't Dark or dangerous-"

"-easy for you to say." Harry muttered.

"-so it would be down to Filch to realize it wasn't a cough potion, and he's not a very good wizard. I doubt he can tell one potion from-"

Hermione cut off and I quickly flipped Harry's book closed so Madam Pince wouldn't see the writing upon the pages.

"The library is now closed. Mind you return anything you have borrowed to the correct shelf." Madam Pince said, gliding past our table. We gathered our things so that we could leave.

"Look," I said as Madam Pince moved past the wooden table and farther down the bookcases, stuffing my charms book into my bag. "Let's say for arguments sake, Draco's the Death Eater. Who says he brought it to Hogwarts at all? If, hypothetically, he was a Death Eater, he could easily have someone in Hogsmeade. Polyjuice potion, disguises, even the imperius curse. You should see if anyone in Hogsmeade has been acting funny, perhaps Dumbledore would know Harry."

We exited the library doors.

"But the necklace is expensive." Hermione argued.

"Well, the Malfoys are rich." I replied.

"And Borgin seemed scared of this Greyback character." Harry said. "Maybe he gave it to Malfoy for free."

"It's all speculation." I replied, "Until we find more clues or until we uncover something more at least."

I headed off in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room and doubled back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, knocking before I entered.

Severus smiled at me gently as I entered the office. Standing next to him was Professor Dumbledore. I hesitated in the doorway awkwardly, my cheeks turning red.

"Hello Miss Kane." Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses. "Please close the door behind you."

I did as he said but stayed near the door, looking from Severus to Dumbledore.

"Now, I believe you and Severus are going to have a child?" Dumbledore asked cheerfully and very bluntly.

"Ah, yes sir." I said, my cheeks turning a brighter color. I wondered what he was thinking about.

"And Severus has told you that a spell will be done in order to hide the figure?" Dumbledore asked in a slightly gentler voice.

"Yes sir."

"Very well." Dumbledore said, taking out his wand. I noticed that the black hand was still quite black and I glanced at Severus for half a second. "Now." Dumbledore said, approaching me, "the spell won't have to be reapplied, but at the time of birth, the spell will drop, revealing the bump. It gives a five minute warning before water breaking and then, hopefully, you'll be in the hospital wing before long."

"Thank you." I mumbled, extremely embarrassed now.

Dumbledore stepped backwards and I noticed that my stomach had shrunk quite a bit and was more pleased than before. "Congratulations you two." He smiled and then left the office, the door closing behind him with a quiet snap.

"That was horrible." I murmured after a second.

"Did it hurt?" Severus asked, coming towards me, his black cloak trailing out behind him.

"No, I was just. . . well embarrassed. I mean, we're married, I shouldn't. I think I'll feel better once I'm seventeen." I sighed, putting a hand on my stomach and feeling the comparative flatness.

Severus gently tugged at my hand, putting it around his neck and then took my other hand in his, wrapping his other arm around my waist. I leaned my head on his shoulder and smiled a little.

"Do you remember dancing in December, two years ago in the Forbidden Forest?" He whispered along the top of my head.

I smiled a little, "A bit hard to forget."

"That was the first time you told me you loved me." He said, but he didn't sound amused like I thought he would.

"Yes." I said simply.

He was silent for a moment. "I love you."

Now I was silent for a moment, savoring the words floating on the air. "I love you too." I whispered after a long moment.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed." Severus said gently. "As a matter of fact, Dumbledore seems a bit- overly enthusiastic perhaps about the whole thing."

"Does anyone else know?" I asked curiously.

"Well he's never kept a secret from Professor McGonagall." Severus sighed, leading me slowly over to the bed.

I groaned, "I forgot, I was supposed to practice human transfiguration for class in a couple of days."

"Oh?" He questioned, slowly lowering himself over me on the bed, "and what part of the body, may I ask, are you changing?" His fingers trailed down from my neck to the V-shaped end of my shirt.

"The eyebrow color." I said with a smile. "Wonder if Tonks ever used her Metamorphmagus powers to cheat in human transfiguration?"

Severus rolled his eyes, undoing the buttons of my shirt with one hand, the other around the back of my head. "Probably."

"Why don't you like Aurors?" I asked curiously. "I might be one. . . will that be a problem?" I asked, smiling slightly.

"Most definitely." Severus said, lowering his lips to my breasts, moving his lips softly against my skin side to side.

I laughed quietly. The movement felt wonderful. "Will you give me an honest answer now?"

"To why I don't like Aurors? Or if there will be a problem if you become an Auror?" Severus asked, his head still bent but I saw the flicker of a smile.

"Why you don't like Aurors." I asked amused, shivering a little as I felt his teeth slightly graze over my nipple.

"Because," he whispered, "they didn't like me first."

I smirked. "Well then, I'll be a first."

"You always were a first." He whispered mysteriously and without another word, we disappeared under the sheets.

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𝕴 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖔 the small mirror on my desk, trying to block out the distracting noises of the other students. I heard Hermione laughing unkindly and I looked up and saw that Ron had given himself, through Transfiguration, a red handlebar mustache.

I looked back into the mirror, rolling my eyes. Sure, Ron was a rude, selfish, ignorant bastard, but did Hermione really have to be so childish about it? We were sixteen for Merlins sake and the two of them were fighting like they were still eleven.

Maybe it was the fact that I was going to be a mother and felt much older than them that set me apart from the others. Or perhaps it was the childish characteristic of her attitude. What she should have done, was ignore him. Get a boyfriend, a real one, and walked away from Ron instead of trying to make him jealous and angry.

I concentrated on the eyebrows, trying to change the color. I closed my eyes, focusing on turning them green.

"Lovely, Miss Kane." Professor McGonagall's voice said and I opened my eyes and saw that the eyebrows were a bright green. I also realized my hand was hurting from squeezing my wand so tightly and I quickly dropped my wand on the desk.

With a wave of her wand, Professor McGonagall turned my eyebrows back to their normal brown color and I was to try again and then turn them back on my own this time. I set to work on doing so.

Professor McGonagall walked around to the front of the class to address us, asking questions. Hermione raised her hand every time, like we always did. But I did not raise mine.

No, I watched Ron in the back of the classroom as he imitated her, to make her feel horrible and to amuse Lavender and Parvati.

Hermione was nearly in tears by the time class had ended. Harry gathered up her things, following her out of the classroom. Everyone else got up in a more orderly fashion, chattering indifferently as they left the classroom. Ron and Lavender were hanging onto each other like the way an octopus clung to its prey. I just wasn't sure which one was the prey yet.

I shoved my things into my bag angrily. Professor McGonagall had retired behind her desk. I wanted to ask her how she hadn't noticed Ron mocking Hermione but kept my mouth shut. I wasn't a Professor or even an equal to her stature. There was no way I was going to criticize her.

I slung my light bag across my shoulders and made my way out of the room, closing the door behind me. I walked down to the Great Hall for dinner.

I sat across from Trang at the Ravenclaw table. She had her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework out, trying to aimlessly eat a piece of steak while looking intently upon the diagrams. Her glasses kept slipping down her nose.

"How's that going?" I asked, setting my bag aside and pulling over the hot chicken wings.

"Hmm?" She asked, not really taking notice in who she was talking to. I grinned, biting into the wing and she looked up. "Oh! Sorry! Distracted, that's all."

"Not distracted. Concentrating." I said, eyes watering and quickly took a swig of milk. I'd never seen milk on the Hogwarts tables before. Or perhaps I just was never paying attention because pumpkin juice was a wizard drink.

Trang observed me for a second and then slid the charts back into her bag. "Do you still want to go to Slughorn's party?"

"Have to." I said. "I'd like to stay in bed with Sev, but he's going to be at the party and that's how it has to unfold so I'll go and just leave a little early, that's all."

"Alright then." Trang said with a shrug. "He's okay with the two of us going together, isn't he?"

I shrugged, "I didn't tell him. I didn't think it was relevant."

Trang looked like she wanted to say something but instead continued to eat.

"Should I have told him?" I asked anxiously, abandoning my chicken wings and wiping my fingers on a napkin.

Trang paused, a piece of steak on her fork before her lips. "I don't know. I'm not married."

"Thanks." I said, slightly bitter. But it wasn't like I was married either. A hand fluttered to my stomach.

"Are you alright?" Trang asked in concern, her eyebrows scrunching together.

"Fine." I whispered, "I'm going to go see Severus."

Trang opened her mouth as I got up from the table, looking distressed. But she didn't say anything, closing her mouth, as I grabbed my bag and headed for Severus' room.

I knocked before entering. He was alone, wearing his usual robes as though there was no party tonight.

"You're going to Slughorn's Christmas party looking like that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and dropping my bag down by the bed.

He glared at me. "I wasn't aware I was going to the party."

I shrugged. "All I know is that you end up there. I don't know the particular reason that you do."

"And are you going like that?" He asked, smirking and pointing to my school robes.

"Nope!" I said brightly. "I have a dress."

"Who are you going with?" Severus asked in a light, curious tone.

"Trang." I stated. "Since we're both dating people we can't go with, we decided to go with each other as friends."

"Fair enough." Severus said in what he obviously thought was a easy voice. However, he was much more pleased than he let on.

"The baby kicked." I said suddenly, going and pulling out the blue dress that I was going to wear.

"What?" Severus asked, sounding startled and looked up so fast I heard his neck crack. I tucked in my lips so I didn't laugh. He grabbed his neck, groaning.

"I said the baby kicked, when I was at dinner." I said, holding the dress up to my body.

I heard the scraping of a chair and footsteps. Severus came to stand behind me, resting his chin on my shoulder and putting both of his hands on my stomach where the bump should have been.

I felt her- just a guess- kick on the inside and there was an expression on Severus' face I'd never seen before. I couldn't even place it. Joy? Pride?

His smile was more genuine than it had been in a long time. Recently, under stress, his smiles had been forced. But this smile. . . we were going to be a family. Feeling the baby just made it more real.

The baby kicked again and Severus laughed, a real laugh too. I put a hand over his, pressing it to my stomach. I looked at our reflection in the mirror.

"You're going to be a great father." I said softly.

Severus smiled, our eyes meeting in the mirror. He pressed his lips to my cheek, his eyes still on our reflection.

I pulled away slowly, getting dressed for the party. The blue dress clung to my skinny frame in a flattering way.

"Can you zip me up?" I asked softly, braiding my hair to put up into a bun. Severus fingers lightly touched my back and then I felt the dress shift as he did the zipper up. "Thanks." I said, sticking pearl bobby pins into the elaborate bun.

"You look lovely." Severus whispered, wrapping his arms around my waist. I closed my eyes, feeling extremely tired all of a sudden.

"Thank you." I said and then leaned away to bend down and pick up my shoes. "I'll see you soon, okay?" I reached up and kissed him on the lips and then slipped out of his office and made my way to the Great Hall.

Outside the doors, I met Trang who was wearing a black dress with gold jewelry. She'd removed her glasses for the night, giving her a very sophisticated, older look.

"You look lovely." Trang said brightly and I returned compliments. We set down the hallway towards Slughorn's office.

"Harry's bringing Luna." I said. "But I'm sure you've heard of that by now considering your in Ravenclaw."

"Yes." Trang said. "She's quite happy about it, as you can imagine."

"Harry is quite an exceptional partner." I said proudly. "Though I would prefer Oliver over him, eh?" I grinned teasingly at her.

"Oliver is exceptionally handsome, isn't he." Trang said, smiling.

"I wish it was snowing." I said as we passed a window, looking out over the lawn. "It's nearly Christmas after all!"

"Ah." Trang said solemnly. "Alas, the effects of global warming."

I looked at her peculiarly for a second before she snorted with laughter. "It's an American thing, believe me."

"Perhaps you could enlighten me on the subject." I asked curiously. "For about the sixth time again."

Trang sighed. "Mind you, this isn't every American, just the really stupid ones."

"Alright. . .?" I agreed hesitantly.

"Well there is a certain group of people who believe the Earth is getting warmer. Melting glaciers in the Arctic, dying polar bears, etc. etc. But anyways, we're basically destroying the Earth with our fossil fuels and gasoline and oil and you know, all the things that help humans survive." Trang shrugged.

I snorted, "Do these Americans know basic science history? The Earth is constantly heating up and cooling down. That's why we have ice ages and then periods that aren't ice ages and then ice ages again. It's a cycle and each one lasts a few thousand years. If we're heating up, that just means that we've been exiting an ice age for some time now. Besides, it'll snow. It snowed back in October, we just need precipitation in the air. Perhaps Americans should refine their science and history classes."

"We only learn the same things every year in history class." Trang said. I looked at her with raised eyebrows, "I mean, Americans learn the same thing. It's always about the revolution, escaping from us Brits, and slavery. The same cycle every year. A lot of emphasis on Slavery."

"You'd think after a year you'd know everything." I said, and we turned a corner. We could now hear the sounds of music and chatter. "And move on to learn something new. Don't you guys have exams or something?"

"ACT and SAT, yes, but it doesn't include history." Trang said.

I snorted, "What a waste of study then. You have to take history every year up until you graduate?"

"Yes." Trang said. She pulled open the door to Slughorn's office. "When I was planning on college, I was going to take the study of East Asian History. It'd give me a break from the racial tensions of America."

"You know," I said, picking up two glasses of a bubbly golden drink off of a passing waiter's tray. I handed one to Trang. "Slavery has always been a large part of culture. The Romans empire, the slavery of the Egyptians in the Old Testament of the Bible, even way back to Abrahams time-"

"If you perceive the Bible's stories to be true, that is." Trang pointed out before sipping the drink.

"Fair enough." I consented and we moved to stand by a window, looking out at the black landscape. "But it's historically written that the Chinese had slaves as well as the Roman empire and many other empires leading up till today. Even still there are some countries with slavery- admittedly, illegal slaves but still, slavery. I shall never understand the racial tensions in America when they should have ended many many years ago. The African America Population in American does have all the same freedoms as everyone else, no?"

"Of course they do, but if they make a big deal about it, they get special services. Like free housing, free medical, food stamps which is sort've like free food, and some other things. I suppose that's the only reason they make a big deal out of it- they reap benefits from it."

I shook my head. "What a messed up system in America. Shouldn't everyone simply work to benefit their families, not rely on the Government to take care of them? Isn't that how life should work?"

Trang was smiling mysteriously and I looked at her curiously, "Okay, what's with that smile?"

"This is quite a philosophical debate." Trang said, raising her eyebrows. "Almost like we're adults."

"Cheers to that." I said, raising my glass. We clinked them together and I took my first sip of the drink. It had a warm, pleasant taste like apple cider. "You don't think this is alcohol, do you?"

"Should've asked before you drank it." Trang said with a smirk. "but no, I don't think so."

"There's Harry and Luna," I said, gesturing towards the couple. Luna was wearing lovely silver robes. Harry looked quite nice in his almost black but really green dress robes as well. I watched as Hermione intercepted him. "Shall we join them?" I asked, smiling at Trang.

"Let's." Trang said brightly.

We approached the trio.

". . .mistletoe." Hermione was saying, looking around her anxiously. Her hair was a bit messy and her face was flushed.

"Serves you right for coming with him." Harry said unsympathetically.

"I thought he'd annoy Ron most. I debated for a while about Zacharias Smith, but I thought on the whole-"

"You considered Smith?" Harry asked in a revolted voice.

"Smith would most definitely have been a better candidate." I said.

"Hello Elizabeth! Hello Trang!" Luna said brightly.

"Hey Luna." Trang and I said together.

"I'm starting to wish I'd chosen him." Hermione continued her conversation with Harry. "McLaggen makes Grawp look like a gentleman. Let's go this way, we'll be able to see him coming, he's so tall. . ."

We made our way to the other side of the room where we found Professor Trelawney standing there alone.

"Hello." Luna said.

"Good evening, my dear. I haven't seen you in my classes lately." Professor Trelawney sounded a bit tipsy and she was squinting at Luna as though that would give her better sight.

"No, I've got Firenze this year." Luna said.

"Oh, of course, or Dobbin, as I prefer to think of him. You would have thought, would you not, that now I am returned to the school Professor Dumbledore might have got ride of the horse? but no. . . we share classes. . . It's an insult, frankly, an insult."

"He's a Centaur." I said shortly, offended. "And he can't return to the forest- he'd be slaughtered. Dumbledore is keeping him from death. I think sharing classes is a small price to pay for that. Besides, he's quite wonderful."

Professor Trelawney focused her eyes on me and didn't say anything for a long moment. Then she said, "It'll be a boy of course."

I flushed. A boy?

Trang and I exchanged a look out of the corner of our eyes. Hermione and Harry were talking fervently about something in the corner as Professor Trelawney turned back to Luna to continue her rants about 'Dobbin'.

Suddenly another boy came up behind us and I turned to see Cormac there. I rolled my eyes, exchanging another look with Trang.

"Seen Hermione?" Cormac asked Harry.

"No, sorry." Harry said, turning to join Luna at her side.

"Harry Potter!" Professor Trelawney said, apparently only just taking in the fact that Harry had been standing in her presence for quite some time.

"Oh, hello." Harry muttered. Trang giggled.

"My dear boy! The rumors! The stories! 'The Chosen One'! Of course, I have known for a very long time. . . The omens were never good, Harry. . . But why have you not returned to Divination? For you, of all people, the subject is of the utmost importance!"

"Ah, Sybill, we all think our subject's most important!" Professor Slughorn appeared with a red face, a glass of mead, and a mince pie. I hated pie. He was wearing a velvet hat that was tilted on his head. His eyes were bloodshot and I was sure he was quite intoxicated. "But I don't think I've ever known such a natural at Potions! And Miss Kane as well!" Slughorn toasted me with his mead. "Instinctive, you know- like his mother!" (I'd finally managed to tell him that I wasn't Harry's sister, a fact he couldn't believe). "I've only ever taught a few with this kind of ability, I can tell you that, Sybill- why even Severus-"

And here, Professor Slughorn threw out his arm, ensnaring the love of my life to his side. Severus looked quite peeved to be held against Professor Slughorn. Trang and I exchanged a quick glance and we both looked away, determinedly not grinning. I met eyes with Zabini and I blushed, looking away again.

"Stop skulking and come and join us, Severus!" Slughorn said with a hiccup. "I was just talking about Harry and Elizabeth's exceptional potion-making! Some credit must go to you, of course, you taught them for five years!"

Severus looked at Harry with narrowed eyes, "Funny, I never had the impression that I managed to teach Potter anything at all."

"Well, then, it's natural ability! You should have seen what he gave me, first lesson, Draught of Living Death- never had a student produce finer on a first attempt, albeit Elizabeth. I don't think even you, Severus-"

Trang snorted and quickly turned away. I grinned down at the floor. It was worth it to come to this party just for this.

"Really?" Severus said quietly. I quickly took another sip of the apple cider before pinching my lips together to keep from smiling or laughing. Harry shifted where he was standing. Luna and Professor Trelawney were continuing to talk, completely ignoring us.

"Remind me what other subjects you're taking, Harry?" Professor Slughorn asked.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology. . ." Harry started before Severus interrupted him.

"All the subjects required, in short, for an Auror." 

"Yeah, well, that's what I'd like to do." Harry said with a bit of defiance in his voice.

"And a great one you'll make too!" Professor Slughorn boomed.

"I don't think you should be an Auror, Harry." Luna said. Professor Slughorn, Severus, Harry, Trang, and I all looked at her. "The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought everyone knew that. They're working to bring down the Ministry of Magic from within using a combination of Dark Magic and gum disease."

Harry made a snortling sound as he inhaled mead up his nose. Trang burst out laughing and I laughed quietly too.

"Kingsley would love that." I muttered in Trang's ear. She laughed harder.

"So would your Uncle Moody." Trang muttered back, coughing now.

Harry emerged from his goblet, coughing. His front was soaking wet and I rolled my eyes before producing my wand and siphoning the mead from his shirt. "You really ought to be more careful." I muttered.

"Professor Slughorn," a new, wheezing voice said and I turned to see Filch holding Draco by the ear. "I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed in setting out. Did you issue him with an invitation?"

I observed Draco curiously out of the corner of my eye as he wrenched himself from Filch's grip. He looked extremely sick. There were large dark circles under his eyes, a bit like the ones that I was starting to get from being unable to sick. But it was more than that. It had to be the stress of failing to do whatever Voldemort wanted him to do.

I would've exchanged a look with Harry except I didn't want to give it away. I decided it was safer to just sip my apple cider.

"All right, I wasn't invited! I was trying to gatecrash, happy?" Draco asked.

"No, I'm not." Filch said which contradicted his happy face. "You're in trouble, you are! Didn't the headmaster say that nighttime prowling's out, unless you've got permission, didn't he, eh?"

"That's all right, Argus, that's all right." Slughorn said, waving a large hand in front of his face. Filch took a step back. "It's Christmas, and it's not a crime to want to come to a party. Just this once, we'll forget any punishment; you may stay, Draco."

"Well." I said, turning to Trang. "I think we should take a stroll around the room."

"Quite." Trang said and we left our present company.

We went back over to the window we were previously at.

"What do you think we're going to do now?" Trang asked quietly.

"For the night?" I asked.

"Sure." But she didn't sound honest.

"I think I'm going to leave early now. We leave for home tomorrow, at least I do. You're staying here aren't you?" I gave her a curious glance.

"Yes, I wanted to spend a Christmas here at Hogwarts." Trang said, smiling a little.

"You could have stayed with us, you know?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, don't worry. This is what I want." Trang said firmly, turning to face the window. "And you?"

"I wanted to do both." I said and laughed a little. "Spend all of winter break with dad but spend Christmas Eve with Severus. Can't have everything though."

"No, I suppose not." Trang said softly.

"I'm going to call it a night." I said, putting my glass down on the windowsill. "I'm tired, my head hurts, and I wanted to spend the last night before break with Sev." I kissed Trang on the cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Yes, I'll see you off." Trang said with a smirk.

I looked out the window. "Hey look, I told you global warming didn't exist."

Trang looked out the window as I walked away to watch the snow fall.

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖚𝖘 𝖜𝖆𝖘𝖓'𝖙 𝖎𝖓 his office when I got there. I knew that he was probably chewing Draco out at the moment. I wondered if he would return to the party, as I had foreseen, or if things would change and he would come straight here.

I took off my shoes, rubbing my sore feet. There's a reason people don't wear heels everyday for long periods of time. I carefully extracted the pins and screws from my bun, placing them back in their proper place.

My hair fell down in waves and I decided to leave it like that instead of combing it out. The trouble was unzipping the dress from behind.

The door opened and I looked up as Severus closed the door behind him. He hung his cloak up on the peg and then he started to undress.

"He's still not telling you what he's working on?" I asked, reaching behind in an attempt to unzip the dress myself. Severus came over and unzipped it for me. "thanks."

"No, he's not." He sounded frustrated. He threw his shirt over the office chair. I hung the dress up on a hanger, putting it into the wardrobe before searching for pajamas.

"The progress isn't going well." I stated, grabbing his gray shirt that he usually wore to bed. He grabbed the clothes from my hands and tossed them on the bed, pushing his lips to mine.

"We don't really need clothes tonight, I don't think." he said.

I grinned against his mouth. "Fair enough."

He turned off the light aimlessly as he carefully pulled me into the bed.

"Are you mad?" I asked as he moved his lips down to my neck. He drew back a little.

"Why?"

"About me spending Christmas away from Hogwarts." I said, wishing I'd bitten my tongue.

He didn't say anything for a moment and then rolled off of me and laid down next to me. "A little bit, yes."

I was silent now, tears welling up in my eyes. I closed them and the tears spilled over the lids.

"Are you crying?" Severus asked suddenly. I didn't know how he knew as I had made no noise. I wasn't a loud crier.

I licked my lips and said, "No."

Silence.

"You're lying." Severus said, putting his hands on either side of my face. I supposed he could feel the tears now. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Just hormones." I said, sniffing. "I'm fine."

He put an arm around me, pulling me onto my side so that my head rested on his chest. My hair fanned out behind me on the pillow, out of the way. He smoothed my hair repeatedly in a soothing manner.

"Professor Trelawney said the baby is going to be a boy." I said, quickly changing the subject.

"You told her?" Severus asked, a bit incredulously, and a bit anxiously.

"No. I don't know. . . maybe she meant something else." I said, moving my head slightly. Shadows were dancing on the wall, Severus had left the candles lit. "She was talking about Firenze and I got in the conversation. She kind've just stared at me for a moment and then said 'It'll be a boy of course'."

"A boy. . ." Severus said slowly, moving his hand down to my stomach. Part of me wished the bump was visible. I wanted to see the bump rather than just know that there was a baby inside of me. But it was a foolish wish.

"I think she's wrong." I stated happily.

"You do?" He sounded amused.

"Yes. Her predictions are usually quite off." I trailed a finger over his neatly defined abs. I had a feeling they'd. . . what was the right word? Grown didn't seem right. Perhaps defined. More defined than last year that was for sure. Perhaps he was working out? "So I'm quite confident that it's a girl instead."

"So the opposite of what Professor Trelawney says is the truth." Severus said, more amused than before.

"Correct." I reached up and pressed my lips to his. His hands pulled me closer to his and that was the end of our conversation for the rest of the night. 

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