The Godmother

14. discovery

ELIZABETH DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. She paced her room, taught a class absent-mindedly then returned back to her bedroom. What could she do?

She couldn't tell Remus because then he'd know that Harry would die. What use would telling Dumbledore do? There was nothing that he could do or say to prevent Harry from dying. The future was set in stone. Nothing could change that.

She couldn't sit down. She couldn't eat or drink water yet her mouth was so dry. Her nerves felt like someone had snapped them into two, making her not be able to feel anything. Everything was quiet. Still. Dead.

How was she going to do it? How would she save Harry from imminent death? What if she failed? She didn't know how to save someone from certain death. Wasn't that the point of living?

She hadn't been able to save James and Lily. What if she failed Harry too? Elizabeth would be the reason why the Potter bloodline cut off at her. She would be the name they sighed in history lessons. The Potter who was too weak to save the others.

She was in the other room. She was so close to James and Lily and Voldemort. If her and Sirius had have just swallowed their fear and turned the corner- maybe James and Lily wouldn't be dead. Maybe her twin brother and her best friend would still be alive?

There was too much to think. Elizabeth couldn't sit down. She didn't know what to do? Who to tell? James would have known what to do. He'd say something funny then heroic and then save the day. God. She missed her brother.

It felt like a chuck of her soul had been ripped out, chewed up and spat back out. How? How was she going to save Harry? She wasn't good at fighting anymore. She was well out of practise since the war- she barely remembered any of the spells and curses she used to defeat Death Eaters.

Elizabeth sighed to herself and bit the tip of her thumb. She needed to see Sirius.

Not being around him felt like a bad dream. It grew deep inside of her like a weed and couldn't be ripped out until she saw him- smelt him again.

Night had dawned upon the castle by that point. It was cold outside. Elizabeth pulled on a cloak and walked down a secret abandoned passage. It smelt like old people.

She appeared again near the back courtyard. Elizabeth cut through it. It was empty as it was night-time, the curfews were still in place and everyone for the most part was either in the Great Hall eating dinner or in their common rooms.

Elizabeth hid underneath the shadow of her cloak as she whipped through the courtyard, leaving the castle and rushing down the steep hill into the Forbidden Forest.

The trees weren't whispering anymore. They sat silently. In wait. The air was still cold. Without the wind, it was tingly and sharp all over Elizabeth's body where her clothes didn't cover. Her cheeks flushed scarlet, her eyes watered.

She grabbed her wand from the back pocket of her jeans and waved it in front of her. "Lumos", she said with ease. The tip of the wand lit up, and Elizabeth could see the trees in front of her.

It was a spooky sight. Something that they'd show on a poster for Halloween. Evil silhouettes of trees and their looming shadows stood behind the more prominent trees. They were too dull. Where had the colour gone?

What was once glorious greens and embers of yellow and brown had turned into a monotonous flat of dull colours. It was dismally dry and lifeless. As mundane and sombre as colours go.

Everything else was just pitch black. Elizabeth felt like she was looking into a shadow.

She swallowed. She hated the dark. Especially when it was when she was in a dark forest full of evil creatures and lurking dementors that could jump out and attack her at any moment.