Elizabeth Potter

For the next weeks, things calmed down again. Somehow, one of their fellow teachers had caught wind of Remus spending the night in her chambers, and now they kept getting comments and hints. Neither Holly nor Remus particularly minded that all their colleagues now seemed to believe they were a couple. Remus actually found it rather amusing, at one point he actually joked that, if he wasn’t already, Remus hitting on Ellie would be a sure way to make Sirius turn to the dark side. Then it was time for the Quidditch cup final. Everyone except Slytherin house was cheering for Gryffindor, not wanting to see Slytherin win the cup yet again and expectably large was the excitement about it when Harry caught the Snitch. Oliver Wood, the captain of Gryffindor, was sobbing into Harry’s shoulder. The boy was going to graduate this year, making this his last chance. Next to Holly, Minerva, too was crying, whether in pride over their achievement or in relieve not to have to listen to Snape gloat again, Holly couldn’t say. Both in her opinion were equally good reasons for tears.

Then the exams began. Holly was busier than usually, as she had volunteered to help other professors with their exams, too. By the end of the week, Holly was relieved. It was late, shortly before midnight, when she hear noises outside. Having been tossing and turning most of the night anyways, Holly got up to investigate and found Snape and Dumbledore standing in front of the hospital wing, talking in a hushed tone. At first, Holly wanted to return to bed, then Sirius’ name fell, Snape apparently very happy about something.

“Has he been sighted again, Headmaster?”, Holly asked, scaring both of them as she stepped out of the shadows.

“Merlin, Holly, you can’t sneak up on an old man like that! And he has been caught.”

“By me. And your little boyfriend was helping him!”

Dumfounded, Holly stared into Snape’s gleeful face, not able to process any of it. Sirius had been caught? Had he been kissed, too? Was she too late to get the truth from him? And what was he on about Remus helping him?

“Are you unwell, Snape?”

His gleeful sneer turned confused, “What? What are you talking about?”

“You must have hit your head quite hard thinking Remus is capable of helping anyone tonight. You of all people should know that! Tonight’s a full moon!”

Holly had absolutely no clue about what had happened tonight, but no matter what it was, she was going to defend Remus. To her last breath if necessary.

“I must agree with Holly, Severus. It seems highly unlikely for Remus to have aided Black in his condition.”

“What exactly has occurred tonight, Headmaster?”

“Black apparently believes that Mr Weasley’s rat is Pettigrew and has tried to kill it, kidnapping Mr Weasley, Miss Granger and Harry in the process. Remus by the looks of it tried to intervene, but then turned into a wolf. He is currently somewhere in the forest.”

“And the children? Are they alright? And what about the rat? It can’t be… can it?”

“Unfortunately, in the chaos resulting from the transformation, the rat was lost. Harry and Ms Granger are alright, a little shaken, as the Dementors attacked Black and Harry was there with him.”

“What?!”

No! It couldn’t be. Harry… Sirius… had she really lost them both?

“You mustn’t worry, Holly, the boy is quite alright. Somehow, someone produced a formidable patronus, saving both Mr Potter and Mr Black.”

Unspeakable relief flooded her, followed by the realization that her ludicrous theory about Pettigrew had been right. That she had been right all along. Sirius was innocent.

“Mr Black is currently held in the charms classroom, he shall receive the dementors’ kiss at midnight tonight.”

Oh, that was bad. Very, very bad.

“And the children?”

“They’re inside. Mr Weasley has suffered some injuries, but he will recover. The other two are unharmed, but Poppy insisted on keeping them. I believe they’re still awake if you wish to see for yourself. I am sure they could use some consoling after what happened.”

“Of course, I will see what I can do for them.”

“Thank you, Holly, I appreciate it.”

More than ever before, Holly was grateful for her unofficial role as school counselor right now, seeing as it enabled her to see Harry right now. As she entered the hospital wing, Poppy came up to her, obviously relieved she was there.

“Holly, its good of you to come at this hour. I had half a mind sending for you, what with the poor students have been through tonight. I gave them some chocolate, but they still are confused. The shock, I believe. If you could talk to them, I think it would help heaps.”

“Of course, that’s why I came.”

“Thank you. I’ll give you some room, then.”

Heading into her little office, she left Holly alone with the three. Although they hadn’t noticed her yet. Only when she stepped right next to Harry’s bed, they seemed to realize she was there.

“Ellie! Thank god! You were right! You were right all along. He’s innocent. He didn’t do it. It was Peter. The entire time it was Peter. Except that he was a rat. Ron’s rat, to be exact. He was their Secret Keeper, not Sirius. And he turned death eater. And then Sirius went to kill him, after. But he escaped. And they arrested Sirius. Sirius thought Peter was dead. But then he saw Peter in the paper, so he broke out. That’s why he broke into the castle. Not to hurt me, but to get to Scabbers. But now they got Sirius and they’re going to kill him! And we can’t prove anything because Lupin’s off in the woods. And Snape won’t tell the truth. And Fudge doesn’t believe us! You have to help us!”

“Deep breaths, Harry. Okay… uhm… okay, this is a lot. I admit I have no idea what to do. But I’ll try… okay? I’ll try.”

She wasn’t entirely sure whom she was trying to convince here, Harry or herself. Either way, she was pretty sure she failed.

“I… I will go, try to talk to Sirius… this is such a mess.”

Giving Hermione and Harry, Ron was still unconscious, an anxious smile, she hurried out again. Dumbledore was waiting outside the door, no trace of Snape.

“And? How are they?”

“Certain that Black is innocent.”

“Ah, yes. So they have said.”

“And you don’t believe them?”

Or he just didn’t care. He probably had no use for Sirius right now, so he didn’t mind letting him die, just has he had never bothered to find out if Sirius had been rightfully send to Azkaban.

“Unfortunately, it makes no difference whether or not I believe them. The Minister has made his choice.”

“But you can safe him”, Holly couldn’t help but growl, “If you wanted to.”

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes a little, then he smiled slyly, “Not me, no. But I think Harry might. Yes, yes, I think I might need to talk to Harry.”

That was typical for him, pushing tasks he didn’t want to do off to less qualified people. But this once, Holly was just glad that he did something. As he now went into the Hospital Wing himself, Holly wondered how much longer she would managed to be a professor here before she sucker punched the man. Shaking off that thought, Holly headed to the charms classroom, but as she headed up the stairs, she saw, outside in the courtyard, two figures. Taking a closer look she realized it were Harry and Hermione. That was strange. They’d have had to pass her to get out there and she could swear they hadn’t. Well, perhaps that was what they were doing to rescue… Hermione had a time turned! Why had she not thought of that before? Hermione had been taken an impossible amount of classes this year. Several of them at the same time. She had known that, but never giving it a second thought. But it made sense. Thank Merlin for Hermione’s insatiable thirst for knowledge. It might just safe the day. Hurrying on, she found Filius standing guard in front of it.

“Holly? You have heard, then?”

“I have. I’ve also heard he’s to be kissed tonight.”

Filius shuddered a little, then nodded, “A horrible fate, really. Wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Not even Black.”

“I wonder if he’s scared. I know I would be. And he’s all alone. No one should be alone before they die.”

“You are a good soul, Holly. Go ahead, I won’t tell. But… don’t expect much. He’s still a lunatic.”

A little surprised it had worked, Holly slipped past Filius into the room. It was dark inside and her eyes needed a moment to adjust, but when she did, her breath caught in her throat. The man standing by the window was thin and ragged, his hair a tangled mess, his bones visible against his chalky skin. Her hand had snapped to her mouth and she could feel tears pooling in her eyes. He looked nothing like the wild boy she’d fallen in love with all those years ago… more ghost than man.

“Come to take me to the scaffold?”

His voice matched his exterior, rough and wild, but she still recognized a little bit of his former bravado in it. He was scared, she could hear that, but he was trying to play it off, trying not to let it show.

“Oh my love…”

Holly didn’t realize she had moved until she was standing right next to him, hand hovering just inches away from his face. Startled, he took a step back, “That’s a bit odd, isn’t it?”

Letting her hand drop, Holly smiled at his confusion, it made him look much more like himself.

“It’s me, Si, Ellie.”

“Ellie’s dead!”, his voice was suddenly much harsher and colder, spitting his words towards her like they were poison, anger and pain seeping out of them, even after all these years.

“I know I don’t look like it, but I promise it’s me. I’m alive, Si, really am. And I realize I sound mad as a hatter, looking like this and saying I’m Ellie, but I am. It was the only way Dumbledore’d let me stay close enough to Harry and I just had to make sure he’s safe. With James and Lily dead and you in Azkaban, he was all that mattered.”

“No! No… she’s dead! She’s gone… you can’t fool me!”

The desperate, slightly unhinged tone he had now hurt, but didn’t surprise her. After all he had been through, it couldn’t be easy to be suddenly faced with this. Thinking for a second, Holly had an idea on how to convince him.

“Do you remember the last time you saw me, Si? It was in May 1980. Really early morning and we were still in bed. It was raining outside, neither of us really wanted to get up. You were… you were kissing me, trying to convince me to stay in bed a little longer, making all sorts of suggestions. And then, with absolutely no warning, you asked me to marry me, just outright asked. Then you got nervous and started rambling about how you should have asked me the second I turned 17, but you didn’t because you didn’t think you were ready yet and that maybe I wouldn’t want to marry a screwup like you and-”

His thin arms closed around her with surprising strength, pulling her into a bone crushing hug.

“Ellie. My sweet Ellie! I thought I’d lost you! I thought you were dead.”

“I know, I’m sorry my love. I wish… I wish I’d been there. But that has to wait till later. Right now, we have more important things to focus on.”

“I’m about to be kissed by a dementor, Elle, there’s no later.”

“You’ll escape. I’m not entirely sure how, but Harry’s planning something. Just, trust him, the boy’s got a talent for making it out unscraped. I don’t think I’ve got much time left, so I need you to listen, okay.”

A little overwhelmed, Sirius nodded.

“Okay. Once they got you out, head back to Little Whining. I know you’ve been there. Head to Magnolia Crescent. I’ve got a house there, number 11. If you get there before me, just hide out and wait for me. There’s some food in the basement. You’ll be safe there. Harry’s the only one who knows it’s mine.”

When she was certain he had gotten all of it, she drew him into another hug, “I love you, Si, I love you so much! You have to make it there, promise me.”

“I will. I love you too, Elle.”, he pulled her into a deep kiss, unwilling to let go of her. When they finally broke apart, Holly slipped out again.

“And? Quite mad, isn’t he?”

“Mad? No, I don’t think so. Broken is perhaps the better word.”

Filius looked at her surprised, but then sighed.

“He was a good boy, you know? Wild and mischievous, yes, but he always seemed like a genuinely good lad. Didn’t have an easy home, from what I heard. Very strict parents, ran away from home, too. Maybe you’re right. Maybe they broke the boy and we just never noticed.”

“Either way, there isn’t much we can do for him, now. Macnair’s left to fetch the Dementors. It’s a matter of minutes until they’re here and personally, I don’t intent to stick around for it.”

“Understandable. See you in the morning, Holly, try to get some sleep.”

“Good night, Filius.”

She left, returning to her study, where she brewed herself a cup of tea. The minutes that followed felt like an eternity. The cup in her hand, Holly stood by her window, looking out into the night. She didn’t expect to see anything, her study laying on the opposite side of the castle, but still she looked. Then, through the quiet of the night, rang a roar. Angry and bitter. Echoing through the empty hallways. A small, satisfied smile on her lips, Holly sipped her tea, listening to the angry voices moving through the castle. Snape, undoubtedly. Disappointed he wouldn’t get to see Sirius suffering. And Fudge, humiliated. Thinking of both of them, her smile widened. Tonight, she thought, she’d sleep well.