03/05/2001
The Rousseau's Residence, Kingswear, Devon
¬

[ m e l i s s a ]

"HEY. IT'S PAST MIDNIGHT, WHY ARE YOU STILL UP?"

Elinor rolled onto her side and covered her mouth as she whispered to her phone, "Can't sleep. Did I wake you?"

"No. Are you whispering? I can't hear you clearly here. Or is it the reception?"

"I'm in Ezme's room. She's asleep now."

"I see... Ellie?"

Elinor replied with a soft hum.

"Can I ask you about your best friend? Melissa... Huge."

"Hughes," Elinor chuckled.

"Right. You... never really talked about her— But you don't have to, if you're not feeling it. We can definitely talk about this in another time. Or wait until we're face to face."

"No, it's fine," Elinor paused, wondering where to begin. She decided to begin from the very start. "Melissa was a Hufflepuff, too. We met on our first day as First Years. There were a few others, like Peter, but we were kind of the closest.

"Uh... After my mother died, you know, my father crossed over to the Dark Side. He offered me to join after I finished my sixth year, and I... I ran to Melissa's house. Her parents and her grandma kindly took me in like I was their own child.

"My father didn't contact me until the day of Professor Dumbledore's death. He told me that joining the Dark Lord was the only thing that would guarantee my life. When Melissa heard about it, she asked me to go with her and her family overseas. She was in danger, too, because of her blood status. She was a Muggleborn. And I agreed. We managed to slip into Canada and stayed there as a normal, Muggle family. George?"

"I'm listening."

"Okay. Melissa and I... We listened to Potterwatch all the time, trying to map the war's movement. You were there, as the announcer. And, one day... three years ago, we heard that lightning has struck. That's when I felt like I didn't deserve the safety I was in, since I had been running for my life when there are people who risked their lives in the front line to defend the truth.

"I convinced her to go with me, George. I had this big speech about fighting for what's right and making use of all the theories we had learned for the last seven years, and she believed me. We got in through Hog's Head Inn and joined in the fight."

Elinor wiped the stray tear on her cheek, "We got separated in the way. Peter was there. He told me she got hit by the killing curse. The Death Eater had a mask on, so he couldn't identify the killer."

"I'm sorry, Ellie... And then? What happened?"

Elinor sniffled and cleared her throat, "You won't believe what I did after that."

"What?"

"It's wicked. Despicable. You'll hate me."

"Try me."

"I Apparated to Melissa's house in Canada and when I saw her family's eager expressions... I just couldn't tell them. I mean, how could I tell them that their precious only daughter was dead as a casualty of war? And there I was, alive, when it was my decision to go in the first place? So..."

"You can tell me, Elle."

Elinor sighed and after a few seconds, she spilled, "I Obliviated them."

George was silent for a long time before she heard his curt reply, "Whoa."

"See?" Elinor sighed, "You hate me. I was mad. I was crazy. It was a terrible, terrible choice."

"It was terrible, Elle, but I don't hate you. As long as you promise to never Obliviate me."

"I promise," Elinor murmured half-heartedly.

"So that was the personal business you attended to before coming to Devon."

"Yeah..." Elinor sighed, "You know, my wand is there."

"Huh? Where?"

"In Canada. I broke it in two and threw it under Melissa's bed. Maybe the Hughes found it and threw it away, or they already moved out and left it there."

"Wait. So you Apparated to Devon without a wand? How is that even possible?"

"Huh..." Elinor rolled to lay flat on her back, "Now that you say that, I didn't know how either."

"Ellie... About what Sprout said earlier, you on the verge of death. Is it... Does it have something to do with your current head injury?"

"Yes, I think. I mean, that's the only hit hard enough that I remembered..."

"How did that happen?"

"I don't remember much..." Elinor frowned and she snuggled deeper into the comfort of her blanket. Even though Ezme was asleep, her presence and soft snore was enough to give her comfort. "I was running somewhere. A corridor in seventh floor, I think?"

Fred and Percy had just backed into view, both of them dueling masked and hooded men.

"I remember seeing a lightning, then a bunch of giant spiders... What was it, Acromantula? Jets of lights. The dark mark, too..."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran forward to help: Jets of light flew in every direction and the man dueling Percy backed off, fast: Then his hood slipped and they saw a high forehead and streaked hair —

"I heard people conversing, and there was a laugh, I'm sure, because it made me wanted to join the crowd."

"Hello, Minister!" bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"

"You're joking, Perce! You actually are joking, Perce. . . . I don't think I've heard you joke since you were —"

"But before I could see who were there, there was a blast... I think a part of the wall exploded."

The air exploded.

"No — no — no!" someone was shouting. "No! Fred! No!"

"Someone was there with me, under the rubbles."

Percy shook his brother, and Ron was tearfully kneeling beside them.

Two unknown bodies laid there unmoving. Between them was Fred with his eyes staring without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.

"Next thing I knew, I woke up in the Great Hall, all bloodied and bruised. Professor Sprout told me that I was very, very lucky to be alive."

Elinor waited for a while, listening to the rustles and static from the other side of the line.

"George...?"

"Can I come over?"

"But I'm in Ezme's room."

"I'll go to yours. Please, can I come over?"

Elinor sat up and peeled the blanket off her body, noticing the urgency in his tone, "Uh, okay. Sure."