Dreams of Home

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Opening her eyes for the first time she was blinded by the light. Her head pounded, her body ached, and she groaned softly as she began to stir in her bed. Quickly she realized however that she was not in her own bed and she began to blink the bright spots out of her vision. Was she in the hospital wing?

"You're okay, Elaina. You're safe." A soft voice said next to her as a gentle hand touched her forearm.

Normally someone touching her this way would set her on edge, but she recognized Harry's voice in an instant, "What happened?"

She could hardly even recognize her own voice. It sounded hoarse. Her hand went to her throat as if she were expecting to find damage, but everything seemed normal.

"You were attacked by the seventh-year Slytherins, and the Carrows." Harry explained gently.

"Where's my wand?" Elaina asked, feeling a swell of panic in her chest.

Without hesitation however, Harry slipped the teenager's wand into her hand. She felt the panic subside slowly as the memory of the previous evening flashed through her mind. The pain felt distant now, but the look on her face was contemplative as Harry asked, "What do you remember?"

Feeling the burn of a dry throat she croaked out, "Water."

Harry nodded, going to his feet grabbing a glass off a nearby tray before handing it to Elaina. Taking a long gulp of water, her lungs burned from the feeling, but it felt amazing. She took in the appearance of the young teenager beside her, and he looked tired, but relieved, "How long was I out?"

"Over two days now." Harry said quietly, "Madame Pomfrey wanted to keep you asleep so your body could heal properly."

Closing her eyes she attempted to concentrate on the details of her attack. The rawness of her throat however made much more sense as she began to understand the severity of what happened, "I think...I think one of them used the cruciatus on me."

Harry said nothing, but the look in his eyes said it all as she stared toward the ceiling not wanting to meet his gaze, "It felt like I was on fire. I couldn't even concentrate on what hurt the most. Screaming is the last thing I remember. Who stunned me?"

"Dumbledore." Harry said with an unreadable tone, "At least that is what Lily said."

"Evans." Elaina sighed, "She stepped in. Saved my skin. I may not have beaten all of them, but I held them off until help arrived. I could not have done that without her."

"Six attackers, and you two took down four." Harry said with no small amount of pride in his voice now, "Lily told me you were hurt in the beginning. Had that not happened I have little doubt you would've beaten them all."

Nodding her head slowly she took a deep breath, "Seems like I have more work to do."

"When you recover we will get back to it." Harry promised, "First I need the memory of what happened. My family wants to see it. I do as well. It will help us understand what happened, and what we need to work on in your training."

Elaina frowned, "I've never given a memory before. Does it hurt?"

Offering the young woman a smile Harry shook his head, "I can do it for you. It won't hurt at all. Just think about the memory. Focus on the details. I am going to put my wand to your temple and pull a memory strand that I will place in a glass vial. From there it will go to my family's Pensieve where we will review what happened."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Elaina finally offered the young man a nod. Slowly drawing his wand Harry leaned forward meeting her eyes. The two held eye contact all the way through Harry pulling the memory from her head as he placed it in a vial he pulled from his cloak pocket. Once he stored it away Elaina asked, "What happens now?"