The Legend of Chime

Chapter five Strange dream

Elizabeth awoke the next morning to find herself quite alone. She had been so exhausted that she hadn't heard Hermione and the others dress and leave. She stretched in bed to get rid of the residual stiffness in her joints and gently tested the left side of her face, the swelling and the tenderness from the night before were gone. She hadn't realized how injured Ron had been when she had healed him. Goyle, or whatever his name was, had gotten in a couple of good blows to Ron's face, unfortunately. She wouldn't have been surprised if Ron's jaw had actually been broken. She'd never tell him that, of course. She knew she would have done the same thing even had she known. She was a glutton for punishment.

Harry and Ron seemed to be feeling a little guilty last night, but not for the right reasons. By the glint in Harry's eye and the set of Ron's freshly healed jaw, she could tell they didn't regret the skirmish, only the pain she had to endured to heal them. She shook her head and let out a slow hiss. Leave it to men to chose to miss the point completely.

She threw back her blankets and slipped out of bed, pulling on her robe. She slowly walked to the window, absently picking up her brush from the vanity. She had to admit that seeing Malfoy on his arse with a swollen eye and bloody nose had been very satisfying. She ran the brush through her hair and allowed a chuckle remembering the look on his face when she had thrown him. She almost hoped that Madame Pomfrey had refused to patch him up. She would love to see his handsome face when the bruising set in, maybe his nose would heal crooked; that would give unsuspecting girls an insight into his personality. Her smile faded as her mind wandered back to the peculiar prickling sensation she had felt vaguely while glancing at his arm in the library. She never experience anything like it before. It was like her brain was trying to grasp at a forgotten memory. How ridiculous is that? An arm piquing my memory. Elizabeth shook her head.

Focusing her gaze out the window, she surveyed the grounds below and inwardly groaned. It was a glorious day. The sun was warm and bright and she could see the leaves on the trees swaying slightly against the autumn wind. The whole school looked to be enjoying themselves outside. She would like nothing better than to join them but unfortunately it was her last day to study before the O. W. L. exams. She found herself thinking about blowing it off and just enjoying the rest of the day like everyone else, but she knew she would never forgive herself if she did.

She let out a deep sigh and forced herself away from the window. No use torturing myself. She went to lay her brush back on her vanity and noticed a note lying there. She picked it up and read it:

                    Elizabeth,

                    I tried to wake you but you were so

                 tired I thought you could use the extra rest.

                 I told everyone else to make themselves scarce

                  so you could study.

                 Good Luck. I'll see you later.

                                                   Hermione

Well, leave it to Hermione to be considerate enough not to mention she would be spending the day enjoying the sun while I toil away in the library. Elizabeth let the note fall back to the vanity.

She dressed, grabbed her book bag and walked downstairs to a completely deserted common room. She looked around for Crookshanks, but evidently even he was outside.

Feeling slightly sorry for herself, she continued across the common room and through the portrait hole. After bidding The Fat Lady "good morning," she headed downstairs to the library to study, detouring through several different corridors because Peeves insisted on throwing himself against the walls to see how far he could bounce, knocking down several portraits and statues in his wake.

When she reached the library, she looked around before entering, wanting to avoid another scene like yesterday then she threw her bag down on the table and went in search of something useful she hadn't read. She carefully avoided Madame Pince's gaze as she sat down with several massive volumes to read.

The problem was that her eyes kept drifting over to the windows. It took her three hours to read what should of taken only an hour. After another hour she was extremely frustrated with herself; she had never had this much trouble studying before. She slammed shut Valuable Hints to Vanishing a little harder than she should which caught the attention of Madame Pince.

"Ms. Fairchild, is there something I can help you with? If not, I would appreciate if you would treat the books with a little more respect," she said looking down her nose at Elizabeth.

"I do apologize, Madame Pince. I'll be more careful in the future," Elizabeth responded, though silently thinking Madame Pince needed a hobby. She was way to close to her precious books.

She picked up another book and opened it gingerly, looking at the words but not really reading them. "This is ridiculous," she said to herself. If she wasn't ready now, she never would be. Her brain could clearly not absorb any more information than it already had. She snatch up her notes and placed them in her bag and walked out of the library.

Deciding to enjoy what was left of the day, she headed back to the Gryffindor common room in a much better mood than when she left. When she reached the portrait, she noticed Neville standing there staring up at it. He had a defiant look on his face and The Fat Lady was looking down her nose at him with her arms crossed in front of her.

"You're doing that on purpose," he said glaring at The Fat lady. "I am almost positive the password is 'Collywobbles', you must have changed it. . . I mean. . . I've gotten so much better at remembering. . . that sort of thing. I couldn't have forgotten it!" he finished sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than The Fat Lady.

The Fat Lady looked extremely miffed at what she thought was a most insulting suggestion and turned her back to him with a huff.

"Sorry, close but no cigar, Neville," Elizabeth informed him smiling. "The password is 'Codswallop','" she said walking up next to him.

Neville and The Fat Lady turned at the sound of her voice. Neville turned his typical bright red whenever she talked to him, making Elizabeth want to kick some sense into him. The Fat Lady swung open refusing to say a word but her expression obviously saying I told you so.

Neville muttered an apology and stepped through the portrait hole behind Elizabeth, clearly too embarrassed to look at The Fat Lady. "Well," he said with a slight tremble to his voice, "I don't think I will be forgetting that one again." He gave Elizabeth a sheepish grin, his face turning a deeper red.

Elizabeth fought the urge to roll her eyes. "It's no big deal really," she assured Neville as they continued into the common room. "Everyone's got something they're not very good at. Yours just happens to be passwords."

"Actually, I'm not really good at anything," he said with a hunch to his shoulders but then straightened up at a sudden thought. "Except Herbology. I do fairly well in Herbology."

"From what I've heard you do more than fairly well," Elizabeth scoffed and Neville gave her a true smile for the first time. She smiled back and it suddenly occurred to her that she had never asked Neville for his help. "Neville, I was wondering if you could help me practice for my Herbology exam. It's my absolute worst subject, you see. I tend to kill every plant I care for and I have no idea why."

Neville's face lit up and he said, "I would be happy to help you anytime you want." He straightened up at his own words, gaining confidence as he said, "I can help you right now if you like. If we asked, I'm sure Professor Sprout wouldn't mind if we tended her Venomous Tentacula seedlings in greenhouse 5."

Elizabeth tried to hide her dismay at the words Venomous Tentacula. They were the very same plants that had come alarmingly close to beheading her the other day. She had no desire to repeat the experience and was about to tell Neville so but saw the utter joy in his face. She swallowed the denial and decided maybe she could just watch instead of actually touching them herself. "That would be great," she said with a slightly worried expression. Neville beamed. Never again would she wonder how Neville was in Gryffindor, if he could entertain the notion of caring for a murderous plant with such relish, he was definitely brave enough.

Neville gave her a lopsided grin noticing her expression. "It'll be okay. I won't let anything hurt you. Come on," he said heading toward the portrait hole again. Somehow this gave her little comfort.

Elizabeth threw her bag in a empty armchair and reluctantly followed Neville down to greenhouse 5, mentally kicking herself for mentioning it. But she supposed if she wanted to pass Herbology, she should suck it up and try to absorb whatever Neville tried to teach her.

As they entered the greenhouse, they spied Professor Sprout pruning the nearby plants and cooing to them softly.

"Professor Sprout?"

She turned and saw Neville. "Hello, Mr. Longbottom," she said smiling readily until her eyes drifted to Elizabeth who was trying to make herself look as inconspicuous as possible behind Neville. Then Professor Sprout put a protective hand up as if to defend her plants from their imminent death. "What are you doing out here Ms. Fairchild? I don't believe my Horklump mushrooms have recovered sufficiently for you to care for them again."

"It's okay, Professor Sprout," said Neville calmly. "Elizabeth has asked me to help her practice for her Herbology exam. I'm sure I can figure out what she might be doing to injure the plants if you will allow us to try." Before she could refuse, Neville added, "I thought maybe the Venomous Tentacula seedlings might be sturdy enough for her to practice on. I promise that if one dies while we are caring for it we will leave."

Professor Sprout eyed Elizabeth suspiciously for a moment as if she thought she might pounce upon her precious plants and pull them out by the roots if she wasn't watched carefully. She glanced back at Neville who was giving her a wide-eyed-puppy-dog look then said, "Well, she does excellent when she just identifying the species and their properties . . . I suppose I could spare one seedling. . . but the moment it withers and dies I want you both out of my greenhouse, agreed?"

Neville looked like he could have kissed her. "Agreed, Professor. I promise you won't be sorry. Elizabeth will care for your seedling like an expert by the time we leave here today, I assure you." He turned to Elizabeth and said, "This way, Elizabeth, they are in the back, secluded off from the rest of the plants." He pointed to the only door in the back of the greenhouse and marched toward it.

Elizabeth followed closely behind not wanting to be left alone with any of the wiggling plants.

"Neville, I really wish you hadn't promised her anything. I told you I kill everything eventually," she said as she stepped through the door and closed it behind her. She turned and gasped, "These are seedlings! Neville, what have you gotten me into?" She stood before a room full of four foot green monsters that were slashing the air with their vine-like appendages and snapping their huge jaws at her every movement. They were all bigger than the one that had tried to behead her the other day.

"Here, put these on." Neville handed her a strange pair of gloves that resembled a pair of knight's gauntlets and a gardener's apron. "Now, the trick is to not make them snap at you." Elizabeth snorted at this comment but he continued, "They don't have eyes or ears so they tend to be a little jumpy if you make sudden movements. They feel the vibrations you make with their roots and if you scare them, you lose whatever body part is closest. It's their defense mechanism, you see. So once they understand you are here to care for them and not eat them, they become much more docile. Watch me first, okay?"

Elizabeth watched apprehensively as Neville grabbed a tool that looked like a huge pair of salad tongs, filled it full of flobberworms from a massive jar on the table and shuffled over to the nearest snapping plant. He carefully lifted the flobberworms so that the plant could, she assumed, smell them. A moment later, the plant clamped its jaws shut on the tongs and made noises and gestures similar to that of a suckling cow. Neville gently pulled the now empty tongs out of the plant and patted its root. He shuffled his way back toward Elizabeth and smiled.

"See, it's not so bad once you get use to it," Neville said putting down the tongs on the table. "Shuffling your feet lets them know that your coming to them and they don't startle as much. Most of them are use to it by now and know that it's feeding time. Once they're fed they let you get closer to them so that you can inspect their leaves and roots for any sign of disease. Do you want to try?" he asked, blushing.

Elizabeth still felt apprehensive about going near something that could liberate her head from the rest of her body but figured she had no choice really. Knowing her luck, she would have to care for something similar during the practical part of her Herbology exam and she would rather go into it with a better understanding of what not to do then knowing nothing at all.

She gave Neville a reluctant nod and reached for the tongs. She repeated what Neville did step for step and let out a deep sigh of relief as her plant responded the same way Neville's had. She even reached out her gloved hand and patted it when she was through.

After a few minutes, she let Neville talk her into getting closer to the plant and he spent the next hour explaining what to look for while inspecting it for disease. They both started to relax a bit and let down their guard. Neville was finally able to look at her without blushing and she was able to care for her Venomous Tentacula with much more understanding. She even allowed the impossible to happen, she actually started enjoying herself. Her Venomous Tentacula, which she had named Oscar, had started to become quite fond of her after another hour and made what sounded like purring noises at her touch.

"I think I figured out why you were killing your plants," said Neville smiling as he watched her. "Plants are very sensitive to human feelings. When you were so nervous around them, it made them nervous. Plants can't take a lot of stress, too much and it kills them."

"I believe your right, Neville," she said as she tried to gently disentangle her feet from Oscar's roots. "Here I was thinking they were out to get me and they were just protecting themselves from me." She squealed slightly as Oscar tried to pull her back with one of his roots as she walked away. "They're more like annoyingly, needy pets then murderous plants."

She handed Neville her gloves and apron and smiled. "Thank you, Neville. I honestly don't think I could have gotten over my plant phobia without your help. Well, almost over it. . . sort of. I still don't think I could handle anything larger than Oscar." She shuddered thinking about those large spikey plants she had seen in greenhouse 4 then continued, "You really are very good with plants."

She was glad to see he didn't blush at her words but merely smiled back and said, "I'm glad I could help."

They made their way back through the door to the main area and passed Professor Sprout.

"How did it go, Ms. Fairchild? All my Venomous Tentacula still alive?" asked the Professor warily.

"I'm happy to say they are, Professor, and the second one from the right is now named Oscar," Elizabeth said smiling at Professor Sprout's look of unbelief.

"Ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Sprout shouted and turned back toward her plant.

Neville and Elizabeth exchanged puzzled looks. "What for, Professor Sprout?" asked Neville.

"For not killing my plants, of course," she responded without looking up from her plant. "Not off with you now. Enjoy what's left of the day." She waved them out the door.

"Well, I guess I should probably check on Trevor, he tends to get lost if I leave him alone too long. See you, Elizabeth," he said as he headed back toward the castle.

"Bye, Neville."

Elizabeth decided to go try and find Hermione and Ginny. She had been dreaming of dipping her feet in the lake all day and hoped they would join her. She walked slowly around to the front of the castle enjoying the cool breeze on her face. As she made her way back to the courtyard, she spotted Hermione and Ginny lounging on one of the stone benches, talking. She strode toward them and Hermione caught sight of her mid-sentence and waved. She and Ginny hopped up from the bench and met her halfway.

"Are you done studying?" Hermione asked, but didn't wait for her to answer, "I'm so glad. We were just talking about going to get you."

"So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?" asked Ginny as they turned toward the front lawn.

"I've been dying to dip my feet in the lake. Care to join me?" said Elizabeth.

"Absolutely," said Hermione as Ginny nodded her agreement.

The three friends made their way down to the water's edge. They sat down on the bank, pulled their socks and shoes off, and proceeded to dip their feet in the water beside several others girls who were doing the same.

The sun was dazzling on the smooth surface of the lake. Elizabeth got goose bumps from the sudden coldness of the water, but the sun was so warm it felt wonderful. She kicked lazily, enjoying the sensation of the water on her skin. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto her shoulders allowing the sunlight to bask her face; it felt like a little piece of heaven compared to the dreary light in the library.

"So where is Harry and Ron?" She peeked at Hermione who seemed to be enjoying the water just as much as she was.

"Oh, they're flying around on the Quidditch pitch. Ron wanted to practice before having to assist with tryouts this Friday," said Hermione.

"Yeah, Ron still gets a little nervous when playing in front of a crowd. But I have to admit, he is loads better than he was last year," said Ginny. "He only messes up now if he gets angry and loses his focus which isn't as often as you might think."

"How he can get so nervous is beyond me," said Hermione. "He seemed just fine in the Great Hall yesterday when he insisted on pummeling Goyle in front of the whole school. Which, I have to admit, was quite brave seeing as Goyle outweighs him by a good fifty pounds."

Elizabeth chuckled and shook her head. "Yes, I suppose it was brave." She would have said more if Ginny wasn't there. She settled for a meaningful glance.

"There she is, the slut!" came an angry girl's voice behind her.

Elizabeth turned around curious who the girl could be talking about. She noticed a rather angry dark-haired girl with a murderous expression charging toward her and she scrambled to her feet, completely confused as to why the girl would be calling her that.

"Watch your mouth, Pansy Parkinson!" warned Ginny who had risen to her feet to stand beside Elizabeth.

"Shut your mouth, Weasley! Before I shut it for you! This doesn't involve you!" Pansy shouted.

Elizabeth raised her hand suddenly as Ginny stepped forward and pointed her wand. "Do you mind telling me what I've done to deserve being called a slut?" she asked calmly.

"As if you didn't know! What is Potter not enough for you? You have to go and snog Draco too?" she spit the words out like venom and several girls gasped.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at Parkinson. "You seem to be under the misconception that I actually wanted Malfoy's attention. So I'll forgive you . . . once. But let me disillusion you now. I never asked for Malfoy to do what he did and if I have my way he won't get the chance to again. You are free to service him, anyway you like, with my blessing," she said coolly, barely controlling her anger.

Parkinson's face swelled with indignation and turned bright red. "You bitch! You filthy liar! You better watch your back, Fairchild!" she said menacingly.

Elizabeth tilted her head to the side thoughtfully for a moment, her expression neutral then taunted, "Ah, but I can't help but to watch yours as big as it is. Go eat another cream puff, Parkinson, and don't start something you can't finish."

Pansy shook with fury and charged forward but Elizabeth anticipated her reaction and stepped aside at the last moment, causing her to fall face forward into the lake.

After several moments, the laughter died down but Pansy still had not come to the surface. Elizabeth watched for a second longer before muttering, "Damn, what a bitch!" and took a deep breath.

She dived into the water and was immediately surprised by how deep it was. Her shoulder hit a large boulder hidden just beneath the surface as gravity pulled her down and the unexpected pain stunned her for a second. She swam deeper into the murky depths but couldn't see any sign of Pansy. She could hardly see her hand in front of her face. Finally after what seemed like several minutes but was most likely just a few seconds, she felt something brush her hand and she grabbed a hold and yanked with all her might. Pansy floated upward unconscious. Elizabeth put her arm around her middle and kicked toward the surface with all the strength she had left, her lungs burning for air. When her head broke the surface, she gasped in fresh air and started paddling toward shore. Hermione and Ginny leaned into the water and helped her drag Pansy onto the bank.

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Harry stopped suddenly, hovering high over the Quidditch Pitch. He could see a large crowd gathering around the edge of the lake. Then he saw two girls dragging another onto the bank. He blanched. It was Hermione and Ginny. He noticed another girl still in the water and squinted his eyes to try to see who it could be. His mouth fell open as he realized it was Elizabeth.

"Is something wrong, Harry?" asked Ron as he pulled up to hover next to him, his eyes falling on the scene below.

Harry watched as Elizabeth pulled herself out of the water and disappeared into the crowd. He turned to Ron with a worried look on his face and said, "That can't be good."

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The crowd stepped back as Elizabeth leaned over Pansy searching for a pulse. It was still there but Pansy wasn't breathing. She rolled her on her back, pinched her nose, took a deep breath and blew into her mouth. She repeated this several times before finally Pansy coughed, spewed water out of her mouth, and turned to her side to violently cough up what was left of the water in her lungs. A slight cheer went up but was immediately silenced as Professor Snape made his way through the crowd.

"What has happened here?" he asked coldly, his eyes darting from Elizabeth to the still coughing form of Pansy.

Great him again! That makes it two days in a row. Elizabeth glanced at Pansy who seemed to be recovering somewhat, a large lump was visible now on her head. She hit the rock, makes sense with the way my luck has been going. "Ms. Parkinson fell into the lake," she said her eyes still on Pansy.

Snape narrowed his eyes at Elizabeth suspiciously then turned to Pansy. "Is this true, Ms. Parkinson?"

Pansy looked around at the crowd, the temptation to lie evident on her face. Elizabeth could almost see the wheels turning in her head. She turned to Snape and finally nodded, flashing Elizabeth a look of contempt. She had obviously decided the risk of detention wasn't worth taking.

Well, so much for gratitude. Elizabeth pushed herself up from the ground.

"I suggest you make your way to the Hospital wing, Ms. Parkinson," said Professor Snape. He then turned to Elizabeth and said with a sneer, "Funny how things just keep happening around you, Ms. Fairchild. I suggest you go and put something dry on. We can't have you catching a cold now can we. How would Hogwarts survive?" He turned on his heel and strode off.

Hermione answered Elizabeth's puzzled expression as she watched Snape walk away, "Don't mind him. He doesn't like any Gryffindors. It's not just you. It's common knowledge he favors his own house in everything and Pansy Parkinson is a Slytherin."

Elizabeth shivered as she made her way back towards the castle with Hermione and Ginny. The warm day wasn't quite so warm once you were soaked to the bone. Her teeth started to chatter.

"Hey, Fairchild!" came Malfoy's laughing voice a few feet away.

"Ignore him, Elizabeth. Just keep walking," said Hermione softly, grabbing her arm to try to dissuade her from turning around.

Elizabeth's temper flared again and she refused to try to avoid the person that had caused her embarrassment two days in a row. She shook off Hermione's hand and swung around to face him. "What?" she spat giving him a look of utter loathing.

"I love the look. Do you think Dumbledore will allow you to come to class everyday like that?" he taunted, raking his gaze across her upper body.

"Shut up, Malfoy, you scumbag!" shouted Ginny.

Elizabeth glanced down at her shirt. It clung to her like a second skin and the water had made it practically see-through, her undergarments did nothing but emphasis the obvious. She glared at Malfoy, not wanting him to see how embarrassed she actually was. "I hope you get an eye full, Malfoy, because that's as close as you're going to get to anything else," she said coolly and jerked her arm upward suddenly. Malfoy flinched and raised his wand. She smirked, then spun on her heel and continued toward Gryffindor Tower. She ignored several other catcalls as she made her way to the castle. She had barely made it inside before another voice yelled from behind.

"Elizabeth!"

She rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. "Bugger off! Have you never seen breasts before?" she shouted and swung around, having had quite enough of the rude comments.

It was Harry. He was walking toward her unfastening his Quidditch robes as he did so. When he reached her, he settled his red robes over her shivering form and rubbed her arms to warm her.

"Thank you. . . sorry, I shouted," she managed to say between the chattering of her teeth.

"We saw the crowd from the Quidditch pitch. Are you okay?" Harry asked, a look of concern on his face.

Elizabeth nodded. "I'm fine. Just cold."

Harry wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to share some of his body heat as they walked up the stairs.

"Codswallop," Ron muttered as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and she swung open to admit them.

As they moved through the portrait hole, Hermione said, "I'll walk with you upstairs, Elizabeth, and bring Harry back his robes when your done using them."

Elizabeth nodded and turned to Harry. "I'm going to go take a warm bath. Ginny can tell you what happened if you want," she answered his questioning expression. "I'm fine." She shook her head as she headed up the stairs. "Blimey, I've never in my life had to say that so much."

Ron and Harry waited until Elizabeth was out of earshot before turning to Ginny. She had plopped down in front of the fire with a very impressed look on her face.

"So what happened?" Harry asked.

Ginny gave him a huge grin. "Your girlfriend has a temper."

They waited for her to elaborate but when she didn't, Ron said impatiently, "So who did she tell off?"

Ginny was obviously relishing the memory. "Pansy Parkinson."

Harry clearly didn't like being kept hanging and made a noise that sounded like a growl and Ron looked ready to kill her. Ginny shook her head and decided to relate the whole story without making them ask anymore questions. When she was through both Harry and Ron seemed just as impressed as she was.

"She's not exactly the sweet gentle lady everybody thinks, is she?" Ginny said smiling, a look of admiration on her face. "I think she likes to be underestimated."

"She actually made Malfoy flinch?" Ron laughed trying to picture it in his mind. "Damn, I would have loved to of seen that."

"You and me both," said Harry smiling, shaking his head. "She definitely seems to have come out of her shell. Sirius would have been proud." Ron flashed him a warning look.

"Why would Sirius be proud?" asked Ginny quietly, sounding slightly confused. "She didn't know him, did she?" She slowly looked from Harry to Ron. "You don't mean. . . they were related some how?" Harry and Ron exchanged a look. Ginny was starting to put two and two together.

"Well, here are your robes, Harry," said Hermione, dropping his robes in his lap. "Poor, Elizabeth. She's had so much happen to her in such a short time," she said taking a seat next to Ron.

"Yeah, she has. . . and I'm starting to think I only know half of it," Ginny said resignedly.

Hermione kept silent, eyeing Harry and Ron.

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Elizabeth lounged back into the bathtub allowing the warm scented water to soothe the chill from her body. She relaxed and let her mind drift away.

She was sitting in front of a fireplace, two children played at her feet. She watched her sons while she mended her husband's shirts and laughed at their little boy antics, waving their toy wands. Then suddenly there was a flash of green light and she instinctively grabbed for her wand. She gave a horrified gasp as the figure of her lifeless husband fell face forward in front of her, several black cloaked wizards hovering behind in the doorway. She raised her wand but the cloaked wizards already had their wands aimed at her children. She vaulted in front of them to protect them, knowing the black wizards wouldn't hesitant the kill them. She knew what they wanted and had no choice but to concede, they would kill her children. She looked into the blue eyes of her oldest son and dropped her wand, the echo resounding in her ears.

Elizabeth jerked awake, her breath coming in deep gasps as if she had been running and her cheeks were wet with tears. She looked around the room quickly searching for any form of danger before realizing, it had just been dream. It had felt so real, but still only a dream. She reached for a towel with shaky fingers and wrapped it around her as she stepped out of the bath. She still felt the traces of the woman's emotions quite vividly and she took several calming breaths as she dressed.

After a few minutes when her mind was able to think more logically and she stopped jumping at shadows, she walked back to her room. She shook her head as she sat down at her vanity and started brushing the tangles from her hair. Well, that was a first.

 She had never dreamt she had lived a different life before. It had been a very strange experience. She had felt every fiber of the woman's terror as if it had been her own. She tried to recall what it was that the wizards had wanted from her, but the images were fading from her mind now. A sudden chill went up her spine. The dream had been a warning of some kind. She mentally shook herself. "You're being paranoid again. Get a grip, Elizabeth," she said to her reflection.

The door to the dormitory creaked open and Hermione strode through. "Well, you look refreshed. Are you ready to go down for dinner?" she said smiling.

"Yes, I am. I haven't eaten all day now that I think about it," Elizabeth said tossing her brush back down on the vanity and pushing herself up.

They walked together downstairs and met Harry and Ron who were waiting for them. Elizabeth looked around and asked, "Where's Ginny?"

"Oh, she went for a walk with Dean," said Hermione as they made their way through the portrait hole. "I think she is starting suspect your different somehow and is feeling left out since she knows we know."

Elizabeth thought about it for a moment then shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt if I just told her. I know I can trust her," she laughed and went on, "She almost tried to take Pansy Parkinson on for me today, after all."

Ron gave her a surprised look. "What? She didn't mention that."

"Oh, she didn't," Elizabeth raised her eyebrow, "She told Pansy to 'watch her mouth' and would have cursed her if I hadn't stopped her," she said smiling. "Your sister has quite temper."

"Funny," said Harry reaching out and entwining his fingers in hers as they walked, "that's what she said about you."

Elizabeth gave Harry a lopsided grin. "Yes, but that's not really a secret now is it."

"Surprised the hell out of me!" said Ron, nonplused. "I didn't know you had it in you to tell you the truth. Here, I was thinking you were this sweet, naive girl from the Isle of Man and you turn out a troublemaker in disguise."

 Elizabeth laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"She's not a troublemaker, trouble just seems to be finding her recently," Hermione said in her defense.

"I didn't mean it as a bad thing, Hermione," Ron rolled his eyes, "I just meant she will definitely fit in with us is all . . . especially Harry."

"What's that suppose to mean?" asked Harry sounding slightly put out.

"Oh, come on, mate. You know what that means," said Ron smiling. "Trouble used to find you, but recently you have been going out of your way to find it. Admit it."

Harry shrugged as they entered the Great Hall.

They walked to Gryffindor table and sat down in the nearest open seats. No one said much as they filled their plates and started to eat, ignoring the whispering behind their backs.

"Excuse me, Harry Potter, sir? Ms. Fairchild?"

Elizabeth looked up to find Colin Creevey standing there holding out a piece of parchment. "I thought you might like the first copy of the Hogwarts Gazette," he said pushing the parchment into her open grasp. "I'm the photographer, of course, and editor. My brother Dennis is the reporter. It's going to be a bi-weekly paper mostly, I hope. The first copy is free but the following issues will be available for a small fee to cover costs. I hope you enjoy it." He turned and walked away from them, handing out free copies to everyone who would take one.

She looked down at the newspaper and was stunned to find a picture of herself on the front page under the heading: FAIRCHILD TAKES HOGWARTS BY STORM! Her image smiled back at her looking happy but quite composed. It was the picture Colin had taken of her after she had been sorted. Elizabeth let out a groan.

"Just what I needed, more publicity. Just in case there was someone in this damn school who wasn't aware of who I am," she hissed indignantly. She scanned thorough the article under the heading and gasped, "Ohhh, You've got to be freakin' kidding!" She glanced up at Harry and noticed he had been reading it over her shoulder, a huge grin spreading across his face.

 

"What's it say?" asked Ron, who hadn't bothered to pick it up yet.

Harry snatched it out of Elizabeth's hands as she made to stuff it under her leg. She continued to grab at it periodically while he read, "Listen to this: Ms. Elizabeth Fairchild, a mysterious girl from the Isle of Man (possibly part-fairy), was welcomed into Gryffindor house after an unusual Sorting ceremony that started off this school year. Ms. Fairchild, for reasons unknown, failed to start at Hogwarts five years ago as is the norm, but upon arrival was immediately befriended by Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor prefect. Ms. Granger has since been tutoring her to help prepare Ms. Fairchild for her O.W.L. exams which, rumor has it, she will being taking place during this week while most of us are in class. Unsurprisingly, in the short time since she has been here, Ms. Fairchild has caught the eye of the famous Harry Potter and they have been seen in very friendly circumstances in the hall and during mealtimes. (Picture page two) Some speculations have been made over her alleged use of a love potion on our fair hero but no proof has been attained. This reporter seems to think this speculation is false and undeserved and hopes the rest of the school will join him in wishing the happy couple the very best."

 Harry flipped open the paper to page two and found the picture of them from the day before while at breakfast. It seems they had been peering quite intently into each others eyes because their images were doing the same. As he watched, the Harry in the picture took off his robes and flung them over the frame of the picture effectively blocking his view. He laughed and looked over at Elizabeth who had finally stopped clawing at his hand.

A muscle ticked in Elizabeth's cheek. "I'm glad you think it's funny. Now everyone is going to think I'm a part-fairy love potion maker that has bewitched your brain." She snatched the newspaper away and stood up abruptly scanning the room. Her eyes found their target and didn't waver until she had grabbed a hold of Colin's shirt and turned him around.

She glared at him but said calmly, "Get it through your little brain, I'm not part-fairy. Never have been. Never will be." She stuffed the newspaper down the neck of his shirt and spun on her heel and returned to her seat.

Harry, Ron and Hermione laughed at Colin's bewildered expression as Elizabeth sat back down. Looking at her unperturbed expression, you would think she had just made a comment about the weather.

"Anyone who looks at your photograph will know you haven't given me a love potion," Harry said suppressing his mirth. "But it does do wonders for my ego though."

"Oh, the idea is so absurd," said Hermione, laughing. She stopped suddenly and said, "I just hope Pansy doesn't think you used one on Malfoy though. That would definitely set her off again."

Elizabeth waved off the idea. "Who cares what Pansy thinks? I can take her," she said and stuck her spoon in her chocolate mousse. She brought a spoonful up to her mouth and paused at their identical looks of unbelief. "What? It's the truth," she said, letting out a hiss and rolling her eyes. "You obviously don't know me as well as you think you do."

Harry laughed, Hermione smiled and Ron looked at her as if seeing her for the first time.

"You better marry her Harry, or I will!" said Ron sporting a silly grin and Elizabeth snorted.

They finished their meal while Harry and Ron discussed Quidditch and Hermione and Elizabeth discussed the coming exam. Periodically, someone would quote the article and they would laugh and Elizabeth would grudgingly chuckle.

Finally, Harry pushed his plate away and said, "Well, I have an Occlumency lesson with Professor Dumbledore in a few minutes so I best get going." He stood up and lean down to whisper in Elizabeth's ear, "Maybe he can get rid of your love potion while he's foraging my brain." He kissed her on the cheek and turned to Ron and Hermione. "See ya later."

Elizabeth looked down at her empty plate as he walked away. Then she asked Hermione, "I wasn't aware that he still needed Occlumency lessons. Is he still having dreams?" She thought of her own strange dream this afternoon.

"Not really. He has gotten so much better at clearing his mind since Dumbledore took over his lessons," Hermione explained. "He still has pain in his scar every once in awhile though but Dumbledore doesn't seem to think that will ever completely go away until. . ."

Elizabeth didn't ask Hermione to finish. She knew what she had been ready to say but couldn't, none of them needed to be reminded.