- Rating:
- PG-13
- House:
- The Dark Arts
- Characters:
- Harry Potter Remus Lupin
- Genres:
- Drama Romance
- Era:
- Multiple Eras
- Spoilers:
- Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix
- Stats:
-
Published: 11/20/2004Updated: 12/10/2006Words: 15,102Chapters: 5Hits: 1,221
Protection
QueenB
- Story Summary:
- Harry returns to Grimmauld Place during the summer before his sixth year. With Sirius gone, Harry feels orphaned again. With only the family of his friends around him, Harry feels all alone in a world full of large families. There's no one else appointed by his parents to be his family, like Sirius... or is there? (Warning: contains one slash ship and OCs.)
Chapter 03
- Chapter Summary:
- Draco and Blaise come to Grimmauld Place, Harry and Hermione have a row, Ron chokes and Harry gets annoyed.
- Posted:
- 12/13/2004
- Hits:
- 241
- Author's Note:
- Thank you to my betas Faith Kyani and The Eighth Weasley for their wonderful beta-ness.
Protection
Chapter 3
Eliza was worried.
It was difficult for others to know that she was, because she managed to hide it well. Her face hid her worry with a beautiful smile. The unshed tears in her eyes could easily have been mistaken for brightness and twinkles.
Only Remus, her husband of ten years, knew. He knew her well enough to know that when she had that smile plastered on her face, she was worried.
The reason for her distress was his best friend's son, Harry.
For the past fifteen years, ever since Lily and James' death, Harry had been alone with no family. In his third year, he had met Sirius and had been convinced of his godfather's innocence, despite the fact that the rest of the world believed Sirius to be the betrayer and murderer of Harry's parents. Harry had been so happy, Remus thought grimly.
It had all come crashing down when Sirius had slipped through the Veil. Remus had seen Harry's anguish and hurt, which had turned to silence and, then, quiet desperation. Harry's frame of mind had swung from distraught to withdrawn. It was as though he had given up on ever having anyone that he could call a family of his own, not just the adopted one of Ron.
Then there was his wife, Elizabeth. Harry's godmother.
Remus didn't envy her position one bit. To be the one to explain to Harry why she had been absent from his life for the past fifteen years - that was a position he would rather leave vacant. He would rather face Death Eaters unarmed.
After her confession to Harry in the kitchen, Remus had braced himself for a small explosion from James' son, but nothing came. Harry had just been stunned into silence. He had simply said, 'Oh,' turned away, and walked to the library.
This was how Remus now found himself and Eliza sitting on either side of Harry, who was staring vacantly into the fireplace. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a long while. It felt like hours had gone by before Harry spoke.
'So...you're my godmother...'
Eliza looked up. 'Yes, I am.'
'Oh.'
Another silence. Remus was beginning to dislike these long pauses.
Thankfully, Eliza broke it. 'Harry, I know you're wondering where I was all these years...' Eliza trailed off as she saw Harry give her a look that said, 'Damn right!'
Nevertheless, she held her ground and moved on. 'It was Dumbledore's idea. He - well, he thought that it would be best for you to stay with your aunt and uncle. It was your mother's protection, Harry. Knowing how the Dursleys are, Dumbledore knew that, if you had known about me, you would have done anything to come and live with me. And I think he knew me well enough to know that I love you -'
Harry's head jerked up at this point.
'- Harry, and that I would have thrown a tantrum to match yours just to get you to stay with me. It just seemed easier this way - not to let you know - because your aunt is Lily's sister, a blood relative. The pure bond of love, her protection, would only work at your aunt's house. I wouldn't have been able to protect you, Harry - not as well protected as you are at the Dursleys.'
Eliza was breathing heavily, and the tears ran freely from her grey eyes. Remus placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She touched his hand for a second then pushed it away gently, nodding her head slightly. She took a deep breath and continued.
'Harry, I have watched you from afar all these years. I have loved you, and I am proud of the young man that you have grown up to be. I can tell you with the utmost certainty that Lily would have been - IS - proud of you. And... James, too - but I suppose Remus and Sirius would have told you that already.'
At the mention of his godfather's name, Harry's breath caught in his throat.
Eliza noticed this. 'Harry...about Sirius...'
Harry visibly stiffened, but Eliza pressed on.
'I knew him. We were friends. And he would have wanted to go fighting. He would have stayed here, Harry, had it not been for the fact that he found out that you were in the Department of Mysteries. He knew about the deception, he found out. And, Harry, he went after you because he loved - loves you as much as you love him. When you saw him in your vision, being tortured, you rushed off to save him. He did the same, Harry. He went to save you, just as you rushed off to save him. He wouldn't want you to lose your spirit or be unhappy. He'd want you to break every single breakable thing in this house, ranting and raving about losing him, but after that, he'd want you to be happy and cheerful. In memory of him, Harry.'
Eliza's voice was now a soft whisper. Harry's tears were flowing uncontrollably. She turned to face him, took his face in her hands, and moved it so she could look at him, then moved his dark fringe away from his forehead.
He looked steadily at her, his tears still flowing silently, his eyes daring her to stare at his scar. She leaned down over his face and gently pressed her lips against his scar. This simple act of love, of care, broke down the walls he had built around himself. He flung his arms around her and broke down into muffled sobs, his head shaking on her shoulder. She didn't soothe him with words, just held him and gently moved her hands over his back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Harry finally calmed down, Eliza suggested he get to bed. 'I know you're tired and I think you should get some sleep. We'll talk more tomorrow, if you want,' she said kindly.
Harry nodded. He hugged her briefly and smiled at Remus before trudging upstairs, feeling tired and drained by the days events.
Godmother... I have a godmother. A mother... The word reverberated in his head.
His thoughts chased each other around his head as he made his way toward his room, which he would be sharing with Ron. He opened the door and looked up, just catching Ron and Hermione peeking glances at each other.
'Er...' he started, not sure what to say.
'What did Remus tell you, Harry? And who is that woman?' said Hermione, trying to diffuse the awkwardness.
Harry shut the door, walked in, and sat on his bed. He sensed Ron and Hermione looking at him with curiosity. But he held back, since he wanted to speak on his own, without any interrogation.
'Her name's Elizabeth. She's Remus' wife.'
'Wife?' Ron asked.
Hermione looked skeptical. 'If she is his wife then why haven't we heard about her before?'
'Well...she's my godmother, too.' Harry said.
This announcement was met by stunned silence.
'Godmother?' Ron asked, flabbergasted.
Harry sighed. 'Yes, well, apparently Dumbledore wanted to keep it under the rug, so to speak, you know - his usual habit of not telling me anything about myself.' He muttered angrily.
'Because it's for your own good.' Hermione looked at him sternly, reminding him strongly of Mrs Weasley. 'Harry, I can understand why he's kept you in the dark about it. He thought it best because of your relatives who are bound to you by the blood of your mother and if you had - '
'If I hadn't lived with them I would know more about my parents!' Harry yelled, starting to get annoyed with his headmaster all over again, the leftovers of the earlier temper growing inside his head.
'Why do you have to go on in that strain all the time, Harry?' said Hermione. "It is over and done with; why can't you just deal with it? You know it's for your own protection; you know how you feel whenever a Dementor gets too close to you!'
She took a deep breath, and went on, now yelling. "I know I sound like I'm an insensitive prat, but you know better than anyone, that whatever Dumbledore did, he did it for your protection! You're clinging on to ghosts Harry, and you know it. You're living in the past. Stop patronising yourself!"
Harry felt he would very much like to hit her, but composed himself and said, 'Never mind. Forget it. I don't expect you to understand, having both your parents by your side and all.'
Hermione's eyes softened. 'You're not the only one who has a rotten life, Harry. But that's not a reason to make it a mess. Its no reason to make V-Voldemort win over your goodness.'
Harry looked at her eyes which were bright and glistening. Looking at his best friend, he realised that, no matter how terrible he felt, he knew that Hermione - and Ron- would be there by his side no matter what. He knew he had been uncharacteristically nasty to them last year, in the same room. He felt a sense of de ja vu overcome him. He opened his mouth to tell her that she was right, as usual, but wasn't able to.
At that instant, the door banged open.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ronald Weasley was a very unhappy young man. All he wanted was to have a nice, quiet time with his two best friends and eat the turkey sandwiches he had pilfered from the kitchen. However, it seemed that all the gods in the heavens had conspired to keep him from achieving said goal. Every time he tried to get a quick bite something came up.
First, it was Fred and Hermione's nonsense at the dinner table, then he was a bit side- tracked by Tonks, then Harry decided to bring his attention to that gorgeous - she's Harry's godmother! - then Harry had mutely made his way to the library. And neither Ron nor Hermione had wanted to follow after seeing the two adults make a beeline for the Boy Who Lived, then Harry came up with this fantastic revelation that the gorgeous woman was his godmother and married to boot, which brought all his daydreams to dust, and now this.
He sat on the edge of his bed, by the door, and watched the scream-fest taking place between Harry and Hermione with his chin resting on this left palm and his elbows resting on his knees.
'You're not the only one who has a rotten life, Harry. But that's not a reason to make it a mess. Its no reason to make V-Voldemort win over your goodness.' Hermione said softly, finally backing down.
Ron breathed a sigh of relief. He had just successfully lifted the turkey sandwich to his mouth and taken a bite, when he was interrupted by his sister, as she came crashing into the room, her hair flying out in all directions, making her look like a human volcano.
'adh-uh-buh- ' She gasped for breath.
Ron said, 'Breathe, Gin...' around his mouthful of turkey sandwich and thumped her on the back.
Ginny doubled over and fell to the floor.
'Oops...' said Ron guiltily, absently taking another bite.
Hermione hurried over to her and rubbed her back. 'Easy, Gin. Breathe. In....Out...In...'
Ginny took in great gulps of air. 'Alright?' asked Hermione. 'Now you can tell us why you nearly broke our door down.'
Ginny looked at Ron, and said 'Malfoy. He's here.'
Ron was silent for a moment; then:
'Malfoy?' he said stupidly. 'Here?'
'Yes.'
Ron choked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Draco, please remind me what we're doing here? I asked you for help, not to bring me to some Death Eater fan club headquarters!' Blaise Zabini hissed angrily.
'Shut it, Blaise. I'm in the same boat as you. I'm only following Dumbledore's orders. He told me to follow this ...this Auror fellow, which is what we're doing, and if this is a trick, we were doomed at our homes anyway,' Draco Malfoy whispered back. 'Is that a severed troll's leg?' he asked, wrinkling his nose at an umbrella stand.
Blaise looked in the same direction and blanched. 'Malfoy, if this is a trick I will absolutely kill you and pretend it was the Imperius Curse!'
"I'm really scared, Zabini," Draco drawled. Actually, he was scared, but not of Blaise, and he would never let it show anyways.
Dumbledore had sent him a message yesterday, to be at the Leaky Cauldron at noon with Blaise. The excuses Draco gave to his father were simple- going to spend the rest of the summer with Blaise. Blaise, in turn, had done the same. In the crosscut, they had both ended up in Diagon Alley and were then ushered up to Grimmauld Place by an Auror who had introduced himself as Stefan Roudaki. It would be a few hours until their fathers found out about the cover-up, and Draco hoped it would be after they had reached the safety that Dumbledore had promised them.
Now, after reaching this "safety", he wasn't so sure it was safe.
Stefan Roudaki had gone ahead. Noticing that they weren't following him, he turned to beckon them further into the house. They obeyed him, staying as close together as possible.
'Come on into the kitchen, boys. I think we'll find the others there,' Stefan said, gesturing towards a door leading to what Draco and Blaise thought of as another dark dungeon.
As they entered, Draco realized that it wasn't a dungeon, it was the kitchen. In fact, it was a rather stunning contrast to what he had seen of the rest of the house (all that he had seen of it). It was a large stonewalled kitchen, with a fire burning and a large pot of food being heated over the fire. The room was cool - most probably due to the use of a dozen cooling charms in this heat, Draco guessed - and smelt of baking pies. Draco's mouth was watering; he hadn't eaten anything except for a bit of toast at breakfast.
'This place smells like a restaurant. A bit like Madam Puddifoot's,' Blaise muttered.
Draco smirked. 'Who did you take to Madam Puddifoot's?'
'Nobody special, just a fourth year Hufflepuff who later realized that she didn't fancy rough rides,' Blaise replied airily.
Draco almost snorted, but quickly caught himself and just deepened his smirk. He looked around the kitchen and noticed a portly, red-haired woman waving her wand at the dishes in the sink, who he recognised as Mrs Weasley; she strongly reminded him of a redheaded mother hen. There were a few other people, who he did not recognise, sitting at the table and drinking mugs of what smelt like coffee. He did, however, recognize the Weasley twins, who gave him an evil look, and the Weasley girl.
'Who is that red-headed Aphrodite?' Blaise asked in an undertone, combing his fingers through his hair.
'Why Blaise, I never thought you of all people would fall for a portly, homely, motherly type. Isn't that darling?' Draco teased.
'Shut up, Malfoy. You know I mean the goddess at the table,' said Blaise, arching one eyebrow lasciviously.
'That would be the youngest Weasley, Blaise. A Weasley. You wouldn't -'
At that moment, the girl must have caught on that her brothers were making evil faces at someone behind her. She craned her neck to see who it was who had incurred her brothers' displeasure, and upon spotting the two Slytherins, she dropped the gobstone that she was playing with, which promptly squirted smelly liquid into one of the twins' faces, and scrambled out the door.
'What was that about?' Blaise asked.
Before Draco could answer his friend, Stefan had brought Mrs Weasley up to them. She beamed at them.
'Hello dears, I'm Mrs Weasley, Ron's mum. He's in the same year with you - I'm sure you've met. For now, I suggest you both wash up at the sink and sit down for some dinner, I'm sure you're hungry - Fred, George budge up a little, let the newcomers have some space.' She turned back to them and said, 'I'm sure you've met my sons, Fred and George - they - er ...were at school with you.'
Blaise snorted. Draco gave a polite smile and said, 'Thank you, Mrs Weasley.' Just because he didn't like the red-haired clan didn't mean he had to forget his manners toward women.
Mrs Weasley smiled at them both and set about ordering her sons to set the table and to call the rest of the children down to meet their schoolmates.
'This is the strangest place, Draco. It looks like Volde-git's head harem of evil things and all we find here are beautiful women. Is it a trap, you think? To get us all giddily orgasmic and kill us when we're cross-eyed and thoroughly shagged?'
Draco rolled his eyes.
One of the twins stalked out the door and bellowed for the Gryffindor Trio to come down.
Draco felt that things were finally going to get interesting, as Mrs Weasley served him a large portion of shepherd's pie and large bowl of vegetable soup. Sure enough -
'Malfoy! What the hell are you doing here?' Harry Potter said loudly as he stood by the door, stupidly holding it open with one hand even though nobody was coming in or leaving.
Up until that moment, Draco hadn't been sure that he'd made the right decision by going over to Dumbledore. His life had suddenly turned into a complete mess. But, the moment Potter appeared in the doorway looking confused and irritated, Draco knew that some things wouldn't change: Potter would always come to his rescue, be his beacon of normality, be something sane and predictable, which he knew would never change- making Potter's life miserable.
'You know, Potter,' Draco drawled, 'I'm glad you asked me that. I've come here to stay.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Do you think Harry will be okay?' Eliza asked Remus once they had settled in the privacy of their room.
Sighing, Remus looked up from his task of taking off socks and shoes. He was sitting on his side of the bed facing the window, which was open, just as Eliza liked it. It was in her nature to keep one link with nature whenever she was indoors for a long while.
She looked at her husband, who finished his task and stood up to change into pajamas.
'He'll be fine, Eliza. I taught Harry during his third year. The determination with which he learnt the Patronus Charm was second to none. He hasn't lost that. Voldemort may have smothered it for a while, but it is there. Along with his ability to get into mischief at any given opportunity,' Remus replied.
'He's James' son, Remus, what else did you expect?' Eliza snorted.
'He's a chip off the old block alright. Although I think, Fred and George are more suited to James' and Sirius' ...er...abilities of mischief making. I think they've outdone my friends.' Remus chuckled softly.
Eliza stood in front of the warm fire, which was now a soft whisper of what it had been before dinner when she had lit it to warm their room. Feeling Remus's eyes on her, she turned.
'What?'
'Harry will be fine, Eliza. What about you?'
'I'm okay,' she mumbled, examining her toes.
'I'm not talking about what happened tonight. I'm talking about Sirius. Are you -'
'I'm fine, Remus,' she replied, rolling her eyes and breathing in deeply.
'I was just -'
'Remus, you know everything. You know about Sirius and me. I have never lied to you, and I don't intend to start now. I'm okay. He was one of my dearest friends. When Lily was monopolised by James, he was the one I could turn to.' She laughed softly. 'The other girls hated me. They thought Sirius and I... were going out.'
Remus smiled at her. She held out her hand and he took it, pulling her gently to his side, as she sat down and placed their conjoined hands in her lap, wriggling her toes.
'But it wasn't that way with us. Just friends, me and him.' She looked up and stared out the window wistfully. 'I wish he hadn't died. I wish he hadn't gone. I wish I had gone with him to the Department of Mysteries. Maybe I would have fought Bellatrix. Maybe I could have saved him. Maybe -'
Remus pulled up her hands to his face and brushed his lips across her fingers.
'It's happened, Eliza. It's over. I miss him, too...gods I miss him so much.' Remus sighed and looked up at the ceiling, clutching her left hand to his chest.
Eliza watched him sadly as he blinked away tears. She raised her other hand to his face and lovingly stroked his right cheek where the claw marks of so many years ago still hadn't faded completely. At that moment, the love she felt for him bubbled up to the surface and spilled over. She pulled his face down to her own and kissed him softly.
'I love you, Remus,' she murmured, against his lips.
He pulled away from her and asked in a playful tone, 'How can you? I'm so ugly!'
'You're not ugly! You're handsome - in a wolfish way.' She grinned.
Remus laughed. 'You're incorrigible. Here we are being all serious and talking about Sirius -'Eliza snorted. '- and you're suddenly joking.'
'It's all Sirius' fault. He left his mark on all of us. He made sure that after he's gone and he is listening in on our conversations from somewhere, he wouldn't be bored to ...er...well, not death, but that he wouldn't be bored by tears and sniffles. He always needed some action.' Eliza smiled mischievously. 'He always needed some action.'
Her smile broadened as she saw comprehension dawn on Remus' face. Without saying anything else, he scooped her up in his arms and fell back on the bed, pulling her along with him. She lay on top of him, their legs dangling off the edge of the bed. Her left foot started caressing his right leg out of habit.
Remus kissed her forehead while his left hand moved up to remove the bronze pin that held her long, dark hair in place. Once released, her hair fell around her face like a black waterfall. The little bells at the end of the pin tinkled, and the sapphire set on the head of the pin flashed in the firelight as he tossed it in the general vicinity of the bedside table. It missed its mark and clattered to the floor, bells tinkling in protest.
She nipped playfully along his jaw line, moving towards his lips, then bit his lower lip, eliciting a moan from him. As his mouth opened under hers, she moved her lips over his, kissing him deeply. He returned the favour, his tongue strongly pushing hers back and twirling around it. She felt him raise himself on his elbows to get more comfortable, when she was rudely distracted by a loud thud.
She stopped kissing him and looked up. 'What was that?'
They waited with baited breath for something else, some other sound but nothing came.
'I guess it was -' Remus was cut off by a loud yell followed immediately by footsteps thundering down the staircase.
'Something must have happened!' Eliza said, as she sat up on her knees.
'Ouch!'
Eliza looked down and saw where her knees were. 'Oh, sorry, forgot about you! Did I hurt you?' she asked as she got off him quickly, tying her hair into a knot and searching for her pin.
'No. I'm perfectly fine. Your knobbly knees felt perfectly fine digging into my thighs. Why do you ask?' he asked, mildly sarcastic, as he climbed out of the bed while rubbing his thighs.
'My knees are not knobbly,' she said distractedly, finally finding her pin and sticking it into her hair.
Eliza opened the door and they climbed down the staircase together. As they reached the landing, they heard a loud voice from the vicinity of the kitchen.
'Malfoy! What the hell are you doing here?'
As they reached the kitchen door, a drawling voice answered the loud one.
'You know, Potter, I'm glad you asked me that. I've come here to stay.'
'Oh dear,' said Remus, in a worried tone.
'Oh dear? Oh dear what?' Eliza asked, as he pushed the door open.
They stepped into the warm kitchen and she saw two teenage boys sitting at the table, one dark haired boy calmly eating his dinner, the other, with silvery-golden hair, smirking at her godson.
'That's Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy's son. Harry hates him. Come to think of it, everyone who's not Slytherin hates him,' Remus explained in an undertone, nodding his head toward the light-haired boy.
'Oh.'
'Eat dung, Malfoy,' Ron said scathingly.
Malfoy grinned maliciously. 'What? You don't think I'm doing that right now?' he said, and for effect, he spooned some of the soup and let it drop back into the bowl with loud splatters.
There was a silence so loud, that Eliza found her ears were pounding. Ron had turned a nasty shade of purple, and the Weasley twins were advancing towards Draco Malfoy with a sinister look in their eyes.
Eliza decided it was time to take things into her own hands.
'Children, children! No fighting. Why don't you introduce us, Hermione?' she asked. Eliza hoped that she had at least one peacemaker on her side.
She was right. Hermione's face visibly relaxed and she stepped forward.
'Well, this is Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. They're in our year in school. Slytherin House.' said Hermione, curtly nodding at the two boys.
'Slytherin!' Eliza said, beaming at them and ignoring Remus' subtle shake of the head. 'Well I had a few friends in Slytherin, back when I was in Hogwarts. I was in Ravenclaw.'
At this announcement, Remus' face deflated and his shoulders sagged in defeat. Harry, Ron, Ginny and the twins looked as though she had turned out to be Voldemort's mother. Draco Malfoy looked at her warily, and Blaise Zabini just looked thoroughly amused. Hermione compromised by biting her lip and fidgeting with her robes.
'You - you - you -' Ron blabbered.
Harry completed his question. 'You were in league with them?' he asked, shocked.
'League? I wasn't in league with them. That sounds so- so sinister! We were just acquaintances. A few girls I knew from class who weren't as nasty as the rest of them. And don't look at me like that, Harry. Your mother was with me too,' she added, reproachfully.
Harry looked about ready to explode. He stared at her as though she was the spawn of Salazar Slytherin. There was a moment of silence so loud, she could hear the blood thrumming in her ears. Then Harry gave her a last glare and stormed out of the kitchen.
She heard him angrily stamp up the stairs and bang shut the door to his room so loudly that she felt the slam in her bones.
There was ringing silence in the room, during which the Weasley children ogled at her, Hermione looked sympathetic, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini looked completely out of place and knew it. Remus reached out to touch her but she shrugged him off and said, 'I'll go speak to him.'
With that, she left the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Harry?'
'Go AWAY!'
Harry heard his godmother sigh and open the door. She crept in and shut it behind her.
'I said go away.'
'Why?' she asked, sitting down on Ron's bed, across from him.
Harry found himself at a loss for words. Why should she go away? Because she's friends with Slytherins? He shifted uncomfortably.
'Harry, look at me. Please?' She looked steadily at him, waiting patiently until he gave in and made eye contact with her.
'Your mother and I - like I said - we were friends. Very good friends. Your mother was the kindest person I have ever known. She knew how it felt to be discriminated against. She was Muggle-born, and a lot of kids at that time were always on about how Muggle- borns shouldn't be let in. There were a few -very few - who were accepting and understanding. In the same she didn't discriminate against Slytherins. They were polite to us, we were polite to them. Harry -'He looked at her as her voice turned stern, '- we are in the midst of a war. This is no time to hold schoolboy grudges. Have you stopped to think why he is here? If you set so much store by school houses, then what do you think two Slytherin boys are doing here?
'They're here to spy on us, what else? Their fathers probably -'
'HARRY! They're sixteen year old boys! Sixteen! Do you honestly think that they'd be here to spy?! They're just children!' Eliza said, exasperated.
'SO - AM - I! I didn't ask for all this! I didn't ask to be the one linked up to that lunatic! Why am I being yelled at? That evil git was rude to me as well!' Harry yelled, breathing heavily.
Eliza's eyes softened and Harry slightly regretted his tantrum.
'I know. But you're different. I don't know why, Harry, but you are. And you can't do anything about it, except grin and bear it. I'm here for you, Harry. I'm here and I am more than willing to bear this burden with you. I know I can't take all of it, but I will take up as much as I can. I fought with Dumbledore to reveal myself to you, Harry -- not only because you are a child, but because I am determined to stay with you till the end. I won't abandon you, I will not leave you and I most certainly will not die on you.' Eliza smiled sadly.
Harry was overwhelmed. Someone loved him this much. He didn't care that she hadn't been in his life until now. He was grateful that she was there for him now when he needed someone the most.
'I'm sorry,' he whispered.
She got up, sat next to him, and put her arm across his shoulders.
'It's all right,' she replied, giving his shoulders a gentle shake.
'You're right, you know. Last year, during Occlumency lessons, I happened to ...er ...come across Professor Snape's pensieve,'
Eliza stiffened next to him.
Without bothering to wonder why, he pressed on. 'Let's just say that my mum was civil to him. If she could be civil to him-'
'I reckon you should go to bed now. It's really late. Don't think too much about it. I'll go and send up Ron.'
Harry looked at her confused, but saw that her face was all closed up and her eyes held a guarded look. He did not want to dwell on the subject so early in their acquaintance.
He simply nodded as she got up, ruffled his hair a bit and walked to the door.
'Goodnight, Harry,'
'Goodnight, Eliza.' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author notes: Review Please. Muchly appreciated.