Windows of the Soul

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's Notes: This story ignores HBP and DH. Thank you to my beta Sometimeselkie for all her hard work.

Chapter 7- A friend

The occupants of number twelve, Grimmauld Place seemed to come to some sort of unwritten compromise; their lives went on, in good days and some not-so-good days.

Harry, Draco, and Elli became closer and there were many times that Remus had to go hunt the three of them down in one of the rooms.

Remus and Severus fell into a pattern which felt right to the two of them. Draco spent most nights in Harry’s room, but after that first night they always remembered the silencing spells. Elli became very close to her Papa and Tatko.

Every evening was spent in the library with Draco playing chess with Remus, Severus reading a book - usually a potions one - to Elli, and Harry sitting on the sofa with his feet on Elli’s lap with a sketchpad and pencil, drawing. Harry had found out earlier in the year that he enjoyed drawing and that he was also pretty good at it, so he did it whenever he had any spare time.

This evening was to be different. Severus had been absent all day as he had been called back to Hogwarts quite suddenly at breakfast. Remus told them at lunch that Draco and Elli were to stay in their rooms that evening as there was to be a meeting of the Order and Harry was to be included. There had been some raised voices over that decision, but in the end Draco and Elli had agreed reluctantly.

They both had been told about the Order when they first came to the house, so they would understand if they found they had unexpected visitors.

The meeting was to be in the dining room, as it held a larger table than in the kitchen, at eight o’clock.

Harry and Draco were in the library when the big grandfather clock in the hall struck eight; Harry jumped and looked nervously at Draco.

“I suppose I...I...I’ll be going now then,” he stuttered as he got to his feet.

Draco could feel the nervousness rolling off his boyfriend. He got up, walked over to Harry, placed his hands on either side of his face, and gently kissed him. Harry pulled away. “Not here; anyone could come in and see us,” he whispered, looking frantically around.

“I don’t care if they all know. I just care about you, Harry.”

Harry sighed as he stepped away and headed to the door. Once there he turned and looked at Draco. “I know you do, just as much as I care for you.” He walked through the door and headed to the meeting. Draco watched his retreating boyfriend and headed off to find Elli. He was slightly worried as he hadn’t seen her all afternoon, which was unusual for her as she was always around one or more of them. It was like she was afraid of being alone.

He stopped outside her door on the second floor and knocked. There was no answer, and he knocked again. This time there was a quiet, “Come in.” He turned the door handle and went into the room. He was amazed as he walked in. It had been transformed; there were hundreds of candles all around the room. He turned around to try and see them all. Elli sat in the middle of the room on the floor. “Wow, this is amazing, Elli.”

“Even though I cannot see the candles I can still feel their heat and smell their scent.” At that, Draco took a deep breath in and could smell something he hadn’t before - it was lavender and a touch of mint, he thought. He sat down in front of her and together they just sat breathing in the scents of the candles and relaxing.

Ellorra was the first to move. “I think I will go down to the kitchen and get something to eat. Would you like something, Draco?”

Draco was pulled from a rather nice dream of Harry with the question. “No thanks, Elli; I had my fill earlier.”

Elli smiled at her best friend who was like the brother she never had. “I’ll be back in a little while then.”

She got up and walked out of the room and down the stairs; she could hear raised voices coming from the dining room, and quickly crept into the kitchen. The kitchen was very quiet and she felt a small panic when she realised that she didn’t know where things were kept. Suddenly, she felt a familiar jolt of magic near her.

“What can Kreacher be doing for the young mistress?”

Elli smiled at the old house-elf. “I would like a sandwich please, Kreacher, and maybe a cup of tea.”

“Certainly, anything for the young mistress.” Ever since they had told Kreacher about Ellorra being a Black (they had neglected to tell him who her father was) the old house-elf could not do enough for her. He popped away. Elli sat down at the table and waited for him to come back with her food.
Her head was pounding from the over use of her gift, and all she wanted was something to eat and then some rest; she closed her eyes and rested her head on her hands on the table.

She reached down slowly and grasped her wand from inside her robes when she felt an unusual magic nearby. It was part of her managing mechanism; she could tell if a witch or wizard were nearby as she could feel their magic. As she straightened her back and brought her wand up further, she heard a step.

“There is no need for that, my dear child. I mean no harm.” The deep voice filled her with warmth.

“Oh. How do I know that? You are sneaking around the kitchens in the dark, when everyone else is upstairs at the meeting,” she said slowly. “Isn’t that where you are meant to be?”

She could feel his breath on her neck as he leaned closer to her. “I arrived later than I should have; I cannot go into the meeting now. Maybe I can ask a boon of you, my dear child.”

She could hear the smile in his voice. She started to get angry and she really didn’t know why. “I am not your dear child. And you can just go and find someone else to grant your boon.”

She felt a hand on her shoulder and heard the chair next to her move. “I am sorry to have upset you. You are right. You are not my dear child, but maybe you could become my friend, if you can find it in your heart to forgive my deplorable manners.” Elli could hear the sincerity in the voice; she decided to take a chance.

“Maybe I could find it in myself to start afresh,” she said with a smile and turned towards where she had heard the voice from. She started when she felt cool lips brush her forehead, and then a piece of parchment was placed in her hand. “Thank you, my dear. Please take this note to Severus, and make sure that he gets it, and no one else. It is very important.” With that, she felt another light kiss and his magic moving away.

“Wait, who are you?” It wasn’t more than a whisper and she thought maybe he hadn’t heard her. “A friend, my dear.” Then she heard the sound of Apparition.

She sat for a few moments, thinking about what had just happened, when Kreacher came back with her food and tea. “Would the young mistress be needing anything else from Kreacher tonight?”

“No thank you, Kreacher; that is all.” Elli smiled at the house-elf. With a pop, he disappeared.

Elli was just finishing her food when she heard movement and noises in the hallway. She stood up and went in search of Severus, the piece of parchment her “friend” had given her firmly in her pocket. She opened the kitchen door, and nearly walked into a body; strong arms came out and grabbed her arms, steadying her. A familiar voice sneered, “I thought we had told you to stay in your room tonight, young lady?”

“I’m sorry that I disobeyed you, Tatko, but I was hungry so I came down to get a snack.”

She leaned towards Severus and placed the piece of parchment in the hand on her arm carefully, whispering, “I was to give you this.” She stood up straight and with a swish of her robes that was reminiscent of Severus, stepped around him, and proceeded up to her rooms.

Severus hid the parchment in his robes, went into the empty library, closed the door, placed strong wards, pulled out the note, and opened it. He started to frown as he read. It wasn’t what was written that bothered him, exactly, but who had written it and how Ellorra had come by it. But first things first: he had to let Dumbledore know this information. He took the wards down and went in search of Dumbledore, hoping that he not left for Hogwarts; he would talk with Ellorra later.