Silence. It was a beautiful word to Ellie, especially when it pertained to three things: small children, screeching owls, and the Gryffindor common room. While she hadn’t had to deal with the first thing since the Christmas holidays she had been dealing with a consistent flow of obnoxious owls at breakfast and a constantly packed common room, which, naturally, meant that it was noisy beyond belief.
But not today. Today was a glorious day, or so Ellie remembered as she rolled out of bed with a smile. Today was a day when she would be able to lounge around the common room for a few hours without the constant bantering and bickering of her fellow Gryffindors. Today was a day of silence for the entire tower. Today was a Quidditch day.
Whoever had invented the game had her eternal thanks. While she didn’t enjoy the sport herself, it did provide her with ample time to study in peace and quiet. Other students thought she was odd for her avoidance of the sport, but no one had questioned her about it since second year when she had verbally assaulted the Quidditch Captain for asking why she didn’t support the team. And so, it was with high spirits and a smile that she returned to the Tower alone after breakfast.
The first thing she did upon reaching the tower was to kick off her shoes, summon a blanket and her book bag, and collapse onto the nearest couch in a warm cocoon of comfort. The only thing missing to max out her comfort meter was a hot and steaming mug of hot cocoa. But she wasn’t very likely to get that at the moment. Remus hadn’t had time to show her where the kitchens were located yet.
As the time passed she remained exactly where she was. She really should have been working on homework, but it was just so warm and comfortable. She felt safe for the first time in the past few weeks and if she were honest, it felt really good. It felt so good, in fact, that without realizing it she dozed off in front of the fire.
All she could see was darkness. Gradually, as her eyes adjusted to the dark, she realized she was crouched under something large and wooden. One look to her right showed her a rather frightened and anxious looking James Potter, whose glasses reflected her own pale and drawn face. “If we don’t get it,” she heard Rabastan say, “people will start dying. Starting with that pretty little daughter you’re so fond of.”
She felt bile rise in her throat as the words lingered in her ears and the walls of a house materialized around her. She was in her home, in the dining room to be exact. Everyone was in their pajamas and around the table with smiles on their faces. It was Christmas morning. “You are being placed under arrest pending an investigation of aiding suspected terrorists,” Alice Longbottom stated as the smiles fell and the room faded into darkness.
She looked around at the stone walls that had begun to appear from the darkness. She was sitting beside her mother and brother, both of whom were wrapped in winter clothes. “I had to do what was necessary to protect you all!” her father exclaimed as he banged his chained hands onto the table. She watched wordlessly as his mouth continued to move, unable to hear or say anything to him. Finally, she heard him say, “So you won’t help me then?”
“Loyalty to family and blind obedience are two very different things dad,” she said unwillingly. How had the words crossed her lips? Who had made her say such things? She had no opportunity to answer those questions as the walls of the holding room melted away, only to be replaced by the staring faces of the council and media.
“Eleanor Swift, you have been called here to bear testimony against the accused Isaac Swift,” a man she faintly recalled as Mr. Crouch stated. She could see the vile Rita Skeeter eagerly taking down every note. Her family’s public humiliation would be the break her career needed. “Is it true that you informed authorities that he was going to pass information to Death Eaters?”
She looked around, terrified and looking for a friendly face in the crowd. Professor Dumbledore nodded his head briefly to her, as if encouraging her on. But she didn’t want to say anything against her father. This whole situation was all wrong.
“It is,” she heard her voice say, regardless of her desires.
Unwillingly, she found herself looking towards her father. He stared back as if she were some sort of vermin. As they locked eyes, she heard her father’s voice whisper, “What did I do to deserve such a treacherous daughter?”
Breathing in gasps, Ellie jolted awake with a breathless shriek. She looked around the common room, as if reassuring herself that she was, indeed, still safely at Hogwarts. After a few moments, she gently lay back down and placed a shaking hand on her forehead. After a full week of waking up in tears, she was thoroughly convinced that the nightmares really needed to stop. Not that she had to worry about waking Lily up since the red-head had been sleeping in James’ bed ever since term had started again. No, it was the lack of good sleep that was bothering her. If she lost anymore she’d probably wind up passing out in classes and that would just lead to awkward questions.
She shifted her position, uncomfortably aware that she was covered in sweat. In fact, now that she thought about it, her discomfort reached further than just being sweaty. Thinking about it, Ellie realized that she really wasn’t safe anywhere she was. Yes, Hogwarts had all sorts of magical protection and it had Dumbledore, but there were still several students within the walls of the school that she knew weren’t happy with her decision to turn her father in. She was still exceedingly vulnerable every time she left the common room. The thought made her shudder as she gathered the blankets beneath her chin. She would be leaving the tower only in the company of Remus and Peter from now on.
Distantly, she could hear the roaring crowd at the Quidditch pitch. Which side it was for and why, she had no desire to know. She buried her face in her hands. The second her eyes closed, the image of the look of betrayal on her father’s face appeared. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes until she saw stars.
This wasn’t something she could run from, no matter how badly she wished she could. There was no escaping this and the sooner she faced the fact that she couldn’t hide from this, the better. With a sigh, she opened her eyes and wrapped her arms around her chest. Of three things she was sure:
First, was the fact that her father had been trying to protect her family. Yes, he had done something illegal and yes, he had practically sold his soul. The fact remained, however, that he had done what he had out of love for his family. It didn’t make it right, but it did explain a few things.
Second, she had a distinct feeling that Livia Greengrass had had something to do with his decision. It was an unspoken rumor that the Greengrass family was deeply involved in the Dark Arts and Ellie had seen Livia’s hatred for muggle-borns first hand. It was even possible that she had started the affair with her father on orders from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Third, and this one took quite some convincing, was that she was not to blame for what had happened. Her father had made a horrible choice that would have resulted in the deaths of Lily, her family, and many others. Ellie had made her own choice, putting their lives over the freedom of her father. Yes, it was possible that she had made her family bigger targets by doing so, but she had been left without a choice. She knew she would be able to live with sending her father to Azkaban, but she would never have been able to live with herself if she had stood silently and allowed Lily to be slaughtered.
Now, whether Lily would ever understand that was another question entirely. The girl was the kindest and most loving person she had ever met, but she could be stubborn as a Hippogriff sometimes. Ellie could only hope that something James said would bring her around eventually.
But then she was left with the thought of whether she actually wanted to forgive Lily.
She banished that thought from her mind immediately. Of course she wanted to be friends with her again. Yes, Lily had accused her and her father of being as bad as the Death Eaters, but Ellie was sure that deep down inside Lily knew how unfair her words had been.
Ellie began to gnaw on her lip as yet another thought hit her. Lily knew some very large and potentially life ruining secrets about her. What if she told someone? What would happen then? She didn’t like the consequences that could come to pass because of that, but she had no idea how she could convince Lily to keep her mouth shut when she refused to acknowledge her presence. She took a deep breath and decided that the best course of action would be none at all. She would have to trust in the red-head’s loyalty.
Ellie forced herself to sit up and ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. There was nothing she could do about her problems at the moment and there was no use in worrying over it. What was destined to happen would eventually happen whether she wanted it to or not. She could either live in fear of it or she could do her best to hold her head high and face it with courage. Needless to say, she really wished that running away would work.
With a sigh she pushed the blanket off her body and sat up. The fire would keep her warm enough while allowing the sweat to dry some. If she got cold later, she could always throw the blanket back on. She really didn’t want to do homework at the moment, but she couldn’t keep putting it off. The sooner it got done the better. She rolled her eyes with a smirk. Remus would be so proud of her.
Several hours and a finished Defense Against the Dark Arts paper later, Ellie was reclining on the couch when the first Quidditch fans began to make their way back into the common room. Based off their despondent looks, Ellie guessed that Gryffindor had lost, badly, to Ravenclaw. This was only proved for certain when the team, led by James, made its way back into the common room.
While the rest of the team scattered in different directions, James sank onto a seat near Ellie, who soon found herself surrounded by the rest of the Gryffindor sixth year boys. Ellie was sure Lily would have been there as well if she hadn’t had rounds to make.
“I can’t believe we lost,” James said. His face was splattered with mud and what looked like dried blood.
“Did you get hurt?” she asked curiously. “You have some blood on your face.”
“That was from when I rammed your cousin,” James said dismissively. “I did more damage to him than he did to me though. Hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t, trust me,” she said firmly. “In fact, I wouldn’t mind if you threw him off his broom at this point.”
“Good to know,” James said dryly. “I’ll keep that in mind the next time we look like we’re going to lose to them.”
“It could be worse,” Sirius piped up. “You could have lost to my brother and then I’d be forced to put his arrogant ass back in its place.”
“So glad we saved you the trouble then,” James replied moodily. Ellie raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t like him to get an attitude with Sirius.
“Looks like it’s someone’s time of the month,” Sirius said as he rolled his eyes. “For once I don’t mean you Moony.”
Remus gave a good-hearted chuckle as Peter giggled and Ellie just looked confused. She attributed it to just another thing she didn’t know about the ever secretive Remus Lupin. “Seriously,” she said in a pitiful voice, “you guys really need to stop with all the inside jokes. They make me think and thinking makes my head hurt after working on an essay all morning.”
“Should have come to the match then,” Sirius said as he made it snow above her. She swatted his hand away, causing it to fall, instead, on the fire. A moderate amount of steam rose from the flames before Sirius pocketed his wand again with a pout. “You’re no fun at all Swift.”
“I never said I was going to be,” she replied back as she pulled her legs up onto the couch.
“You really should try it sometime,” Sirius said casually. “We should totally pull a prank on someone together.”
“Yeah, sure,” she said with a snort and a roll of her eyes. “Cause everything about me just screams ‘I love causing misery in other people’s lives.’”
“It’s not misery per say,” Sirius specified as he snaked an arm around her shoulders. “It’s just me finding amusement in the suffering of those who deserve.”
“That sounds like misery to me,” Remus acknowledged.
“No one asked you bookworm.”
“Since when has bookworm been an insult?” Ellie asked. “I certainly don’t like reading, but my parents encourage me to whenever they can.”
“It’s been an insult ever since Sirius found me reading for fun in first year,” Remus said dryly. “How someone who comes from such a well-to-do family doesn’t have some sort of passion for books is beyond me.”
“The allowed reading materials weren’t exactly to my taste,” Sirius said sarcastically. Remus raised an eyebrow, but wisely allowed the subject to drop.
The next hour consisted mainly of a conversation between Sirius and Ellie, which concerned him attempting to teach her about muggle objects that hadn’t been covered in Muggle Studies. Apparently, he had gained his extensive knowledge regarding non-magical materials out of a need to rebel against his parents.
“So you’re telling me,” she said slowly as she looked at an object he had placed before her, “that this object is used to catch liquid?”
“Yes,” Sirius said seriously. “It’s used to catch a very specific liquid.”
“What sort?” she asked as she looked closer. It was flimsy, empty, and looked as if it was covered in a slimy film. “It doesn’t look like it would be very good at that.”
“Some of them aren’t,” Sirius admitted. “You have to be careful with them so that they don’t break.”
Ellie looked closer. The object looked a bit similar to something she had been shown once, but she couldn’t remember when. “What sort of liquid does it catch?”
Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Would you like me to show you?”
James looked up just as she opened her mouth to reply. “Really Padfoot?” he asked with complete disgust. “This is the best you can do?”
“There is method in my madness,” Sirius defended himself. “It’s worked before.” James merely sneered at him, before banishing the object into the fireplace and allowing it to burn. “Well, there goes my plans for tonight.”
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” James lectured him. “Trying to take advantage of her like that!”
“You never seemed to care before,” Sirius commented rashly. “Besides, I was only joking around. I wasn’t actually going to do anything.” He shot Ellie a winning smile and added, “I like this one too much. I think we should keep her around for a while.”
“How noble of you,” Remus commented. Somehow he had managed to find a book and disappear behind it. Ellie was convinced that he had stashed books all around the tower to support his habit.
“Can someone please explain what is going on?” she pleaded. “I don’t like being confused.”
“But you’re so cute when you’re face scrunches up like that,” Sirius said as he tapped her nose with one finger.
She scowled at him and squirmed out from beneath his arm. “I’m guessing I don’t want to know what that was then?”
“Probably,” Sirius confirmed cheerfully. Ellie refrained from banging her head against the coffee table. Why was she surprised? It was Sirius Black. Anything he was being secretive about usually didn’t bode well for others.
“So what happened during the game?” Ellie asked, turning the conversation to the first topic that popped into her mind.
“Nothing good for Gryffindor,” Sirius replied. “Monticello was cheating horribly, but Hooch was too busy telling off Scott and Sawyer for illegal use of a bludger bat.”
“What did they do with it?”
“Attempted to cudgel our seeker with it,” James replied darkly. “Ever since that cousin of your’s took over as captain, Ravenclaw has really been playing dirty.”
“I’m not surprised,” Ellie answered. “He hasn’t exactly been the same person I remember him as lately.”
“He’s always been like that,” James interjected. “You just never noticed it because of the whole “family first” mantra your parents brainwashed you with.”
“That’s not true,” Ellie protested, hurt at his words. “When we were kids he was always looking out for me!”
“And ever since he came to Hogwarts?” he asked nastily.
Ellie fell silent for a moment. He had seemed to change a bit when he had started at Hogwarts, but it had been nothing too obvious. So yeah, maybe he hadn’t wanted to hang out with her as much and maybe he had started getting a bit of an attitude. . . but that didn’t mean anything. “He was eleven,” Ellie said angrily. “Everyone starts acting differently then. It’s called puberty.”
“He’s been an ass since day one and you know it,” James insisted.
“He has not!” Without thinking, she lashed out, “You’re just pissed because you lost to Ravenclaw and you can’t handle losing anything!”
“That’s not true!” James spat furiously.
“Maybe everyone should just calm down,” Remus said as he emerged from his book. Peter was sitting by the fire, his mouth hanging open as he watched the exchange. And Sirius. . . well, he was sitting back, looking extremely bored.
“No! I want to know what she meant by that,” James snapped.
“Exactly what it sounded like,” Ellie replied. “You can’t handle losing at anything! When you weren’t allowed on the team in First Year because you were too young, you threw a hissy fit. When Peter managed to get his broom off the ground before you, you told him it was because he was adopted and his parents didn’t love him. When Snape won an in-class potions contest during Third Year, you hexed him and said he was a greasy monkey. You are incapable of being a gracious loser Potter and everyone knows it!”
“That isn’t true,” James said, “is it?” When his friends didn’t answer and awkwardly looked away from him, James let out a sigh. “Maybe I could be a bit more gracious,” he admitted reluctantly.
“A bit?” she asked nastily.
“Ok, so I could probably be a lot more gracious,” he conceded. “And I probably shouldn’t snap at people so much when I’m upset either.”
“I’ll take that as an apology then,” she said, rolling her eyes. James Potter was renowned for his inability to apologize to anyone; not counting Lily or his three closest friends of course. Even now, he shot Ellie an odd look as if he were about to contradict her. Fortunately for them all, Remus stepped in quickly.
“Isn’t it nice how well everyone is getting along now?” he asked cheerfully. “I mean, who really would have thought that we’d all actually be civil to one another at this point?”
“Don’t know what you mean,” Sirius said as he attempted to snake an arm around Ellie’s shoulders again.
“Put that arm around me and I promise you’ll be a eunuch,” she said sweetly. Sirius pouted, but dropped his arm. “You were saying Remus?”
Remus didn’t answer. He was too preoccupied with banging his head against the table. “Poor Moony,” Peter said sympathetically as he pat Remus on the back. “He thinks hitting his head harder will make us go away.”
“We aren’t voices in your head mate,” Sirius said with a grin. “I do believe you are stuck with us. Do you agree Prongs?”
“Quite,” James replied. “You’ve got no choice in the matter Remus.”
The boy stopped banging his head against the table and looked at Ellie. “Save me from the insanity?” he pleaded.
“Voices in your head bothering you again?” she asked, cracking a smile.
“What’s this?” Sirius asked. “Swift actually made a comment resembling a joke?”
“Yes, it happens occasionally,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I can be funny.”
“Yeah, and Gibbons totally doesn’t stalk you,” James said with a smirk.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked with a blink. “Ben doesn’t stalk me.”
“He shows up at the most random times,” James said, “and he always seems to know where you are. If that’s not stalking, I don’t know what is.”
“He’s just concerned is all,” she retorted. “He can be very protective at times and he doesn’t like when people are mean to me.”
“Stalker,” James half-sung.
Ellie frowned. Did he have a point? Yes. It was rather odd that Ben seemed to have as little trouble locating her in a huge castle, but then again Sirius didn’t have much trouble either. Was it annoying that he was constantly stepping in to defend her? Maybe. She wasn’t entirely sure about that one. “Maybe he is a bit like a stalker, but that doesn’t mean you need to be obnoxious about it.”
“I am not obnoxious!” James said in an appalled voice. His facial expression was so shocked that it was priceless.
“Keep telling yourself that,” she said. “Maybe it’ll come true one day.”
“I’m not!” he said stubbornly. “I’m not! I’m not! I’m not!”
“You’re kind of proving my point for me right now Potter,” Ellie said, biting back a laugh. He reminded her of Quinn when he threw temper tantrums.
“I am not!” he repeated again, his face beginning to turn a light shade of red. Ellie began to wish she had bit her tongue before. Clearly, he was still in a bad mood from losing the Quidditch match. “The only obnoxious person in this room is you!”
“And how exactly am I obnoxious?” she asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.
“You breathe.”
“So do you.”
“You’re a bitch.”
“Name-calling. Real mature.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “Got any more nuggets of wisdom to share Potter or are you about ready to go take your nap with the other toddlers?”
“Yeah,” he said heatedly completely ignoring Remus and Peter’s attempts to calm him. “I do have something else to say.”
“Say it then,” she replied as she looked at her nails. “I don’t have all day.”
“No one likes you. You’re stubborn, obnoxious, and a bitch. Anyone who disagrees with you on anything is automatically labeled as a moron and a waste of time. It’s no wonder Lily can’t stand you anymore.”
“You have no clue about what I’ve sacrificed to help Lily,” Ellie said furiously. “You don’t know what my choice did to my family. You’ve always been sheltered from the bad things in life, so just shut up and stop acting like you know everything!”
“Better to be sheltered than having an adulterous traitor for a father!”
The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Ellie froze. She felt her mouth drop open, but did nothing to close it. Dimly, she was aware of Sirius yelling and a comforting arm being placed around her shoulders. It wasn’t until she realized that the entire common room had heard his words that she stood, shot James a glare that said everything that needed to be said, and left the room. . .
Half an hour later, Ellie was still wandering around the halls. Her previous decision not to leave the common room unaccompanied was completely forgotten as she silently raged. How could he have said that in front of everyone? It was one thing for him to know about her father’s affair, but it was another thing entirely for him to go back on his promise to her and reveal it, even if the revealing was done in a moment of passion.
She groaned and put her head in her hands as she sat on a windowsill, her legs dangling above the ground. It was bad enough being known as the daughter of a traitor, but someone it seemed even worse to be known as the child of an adulterer. Maybe it was because people would know now just how important Isaac Swift’s family actually was to him. Or maybe the sinking feeling of dread in her stomach was from her realization that she’d probably be receiving an owl from her mother demanding an explanation as to why there were rumors of her husband having an affair. Either way, Ellie was not having the best of nights when Severus Snape found her.
The two had always had classes together; it came with being in the same year. She knew him, as everyone else did, as a brilliant, albeit odd, student with a penchant for the dark arts. She also, unlike most of the student body, knew that he was also a former friend of Lily Evans. Despite the fact that Severus had a tendency to gravitate towards her when Lily wasn’t around, Ellie had never really had a conversation with him before. Mary McDonald had tried once when they were in Fourth Year, but after seeing the glare Severus had shot her she hadn’t tried again. Ellie had just assumed it was because she was a muggle-born and, for some reason, Severus was unable to tolerate muggle-borns. Not counting Lily of course. That had been one friendship Ellie had never understood.
Still, she found herself slightly intrigued when she caught sight of him lurking in a doorway nearby. While it was perfectly acceptable for him to lurk where he wanted to (it was his school too), she still found it slightly unnerving for some reason. She glanced at him as she swung her legs up onto the windowsill. As if it weren’t creepy enough that he was just standing there, he also happened to be watching her.
Suppressing a shudder, she hopped from the windowsill and dusted off her clothes, pretending to ignore him. She turned and quickly began to walk off in the opposite direction. “Swift.”
Scratch that plan. She turned around to find him walking briskly down the hall towards her. The way his robes were billowing around him made him look almost bat like. “Yeah?” she asked. “What is it?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Is Lily alright?” he asked.
“How should I know?” Ellie answered rudely. “She doesn’t speak to me anymore.”
“But is she alright?”
“From what I’ve heard she’s doing fine,” Ellie answered. “In case you’re wondering, her family is fine too.”
He didn’t seem to hear her say that. The expression of worry that had clouded his face had dropped into one of relief the moment she had told him Lily was fine. Just as quickly, before she could be sure of what she had seen, his face was arranged in its normal expression of perpetual boredom. “You’d do better in the future not to entangle yourself in adult affairs,” he sneered. “They can have unfortunate consequences.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Ellie answered, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure Lily would agree.”
He gave her a long and searching look, before a sneer crossed his face. “The wolves are descending,” he said, before pivoting on his heels and stalking away. He was peculiar no doubt about it.
Just as Snape reached the end of the hall, Remus appeared from around the corner. The two boys stared at one another with mutual distrust for a moment, before each went their separate ways. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Remus said breathlessly.
“Why?”
“It’s not safe to leave the tower alone anymore,” Remus answered, attempting to catch his breath. “Not just for you either. McGonagall just told everyone that a couple of First Years were attacked.”
“And how is that dangerous? It happens all the time,” Ellie answered.
“They were targeted, that’s why,” Remus answered slowly. The pair turned and began to walk down the hall and towards the corner Snape had disappeared around.
“What do you mean?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t tell her.
“All three of them were muggle-borns,” he answered. “No one knows for certain who did it, but I figured it would be for the best if I came and got you myself.”
“Did you sneak out?” Ellie asked. She became alarmed when he nodded his head. “How did you not get caught?”
“I know almost all the secret passages in the school,” he stated. “It comes with hanging out with James and Sirius so much.”
“I expect it does,” she replied with a frown. She wasn’t sure why, but she got the feeling that Remus was hiding something from her. “How did you really find me Remus?”
“What do you mean? I just told you.”
“You’re horrible at hiding things,” she pointed out. “You’re cheeks turn light pink when you’re being dishonest.”
“Yes, well, that’s something I’ll need to work on then,” he muttered. He sighed and turned to her with a serious look on his face. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone.”
“I promise,” she replied.
He scrutinized her for another moment, before pulling her into a secret alcove behind a tapestry and removing a piece of parchment from his pocket. He unfolded it and tapped it with his wand while saying, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
Before her eyes, she saw a map of the entire castle appear on the parchment. “What is this?” she asked, awestruck.
“Marauder’s Map,” he replied as he scanned it intently. “We made it-”
“You made this?”
“Yes, we made it a while ago,” he continued. “It shows almost everyone and everything in the castle, but it can take a while to find people on it.”
“What are you doing now?” she asked as she looked over his shoulder. Two dots labeled “Remus Lupin” and “Eleanor Swift” were shown standing in a corridor on the second floor.
“Looking for a route back to the tower,” he answered. “Looks like Filch is on the sixth floor and Mrs. Norris is a few corridors over from him. McGonagall, Flitwick, Slughorn, and Sprout are all patrolling, as well as some of the other professors. We can make it back to the tower undetected, but only if we’re very quiet and very quick.”
“Ok,” she said uncertainly. “Why are these attacks such a big deal though? Did anything else happen?”
Remus paused and looked at her. “Well,” he said uncertainly, “we weren’t sure what to make of it when McGonagall told us. It could have been a coincidence.”
“Just tell me.”
“Alright. Apparently, whoever attacked those first years left a note nearby. It was painted on a wall,” he began. “The note read, ‘More mudblood filth will swiftly be attacked. Long live the Dark Lord!’”
“Well, couldn’t we have deduced that from the fact that muggle-borns were attacked in the first place?” Ellie asked.
“Yes, but think about what they said Ellie,” Remus said patiently. “They used the word swiftly in the note.”
Ellie felt a look of alarm spasm across her face. “You don’t think they’re going to target me as well, do you?” she asked.
“We can’t be sure,” Remus answered. “Like I said, it might just be a coincidence, but we’ve decided not to take any chances. From now on, you’ll leave the tower only when you’re accompanied by someone else.”
“I don’t want someone else to get hurt if I’m attacked though,” she protested.
“You’re not a strong dueler,” Remus answered. “Even someone who is a strong dueler can’t always win. It’s safer for everyone if you travel with someone else at all times and it’ll make us all feel better as well.”
Ellie thought for a moment. She had already come to the decision that she shouldn’t leave the tower alone, but hearing it from someone else made her want to resist the idea. “Alright,” she said finally. “I’ll go along with it.”
“Alright,” he answered as he looked at the map. “Let’s just try and make it back to the tower for now ok?”
“Sure,” she replied as he they ducked under the tapestry and disappeared around the corner. . .
A/N: Only nine chapter until the end of the story! How sad for all my darling little characters. Look for the next chapter sometime next weekend. For specifics, see my homepage. Thanks for reading!
- Anders -
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