Elysia Dumbledore [A Harry Potter Fan Fiction]

Chapter Twenty ~ Christmas on the Ward

Dumbledore's army, of the D.A. for short, flourished despite the circumstances. With a little help from the Room of Requirement, a Protean charm on a couple of galleons, and some eager members, we all soon found ourselves evading the Educational Decree's easily.

Already, I had learnt the Reductor curse, the Impedimenta Jinx and a Stunning spell. I kept to myself in the meetings, and usually managed to sneak Viperous in to them. She had changed, though, and grown more reserved and quiet, brooding as she awaited the prophecy.

"You didn't bring her again, did you?" sneered Justin, as I brought Viperous in by my side.

"I topped the class for the Stunning spell, don't put it past me to have a little more practise." I spat in return, glaring at the Hufflepuff boy.

Luckily, with the aid of my friendship with Hermione, I had kept Viperous out of all formal recognition in the group. She only found out about meetings through me, rather than a coin, and more often than not she wasn't allowed to even attend.

And even though this could be aiding my enemy, I wanted my only true relative in the world to be safe, no matter the cost. I was almost permanently paired with Viperous when she was in the class, or with Luna or Neville when she couldn't attend.

"Viperous... come on, we need to practise Expelliarmus more." I said quietly, tugging on her arm.

"Don't! Just... don't touch me." she hissed, her eyes a burning red.

The year was passing quickly, and I still didn't know how far away her birthday was. Most of the sixth years already were sixteen, but I knew that Viperous's age was a mere guess. She could be fourteen for all we all knew. Sighing, I took a few steps back and easily disarmed her once more.

Sighing, I left her to be by herself in the corner, and waited until she was done. Harry was chatting with Ron and Hermione, who soon sparked an argument about who disarmed the otehr the most, leaving Harry's eyes to wander and meet my own.

Freezing, he allowed his friends to go on without him, before walking as fast as he could up to me. We stood in the middle of the wide practising room, for Viperous to see us plainly. He waited a few moments, before speaking softly.

"Voldemort... he said, on the night, that his children had come back... and he looked at you and Viperous." he whispered, glancing briefly over to ym sister.

"I... Uh... Yes..." I began to stammer, before Viperous appeared by my side in a flash.

"Connect the dots, Harry Potter, we are his daughters." she hissed, poking her forefinger in to his chest.

"But... Harry, it doesn't change who I am... You don't even know the entire story!" I began to explain, before Viperous cut in again.

"Keep away from my sister, Harry Potter." she said simply, pointing to the door.

Harry shot me a pleading look, before turning to catch up to his friends. Viperous was only trying to protect me against Harry's scrutiny, I knew, but I was still furious thta she would do such a thing to one of my friends. Frowning at her slightly, I turned and left to catch up with Neville.

"I don't know what's happening to her... Well, I do... but it's happening so slowly... It's torture." I confided, leaning against Neville's arm.

We gazed over our garden, smiling at the flowers blooming despite the crisp weather. I had created a charm or two to keep this garden completely devoid of any weather too cold or too warm to suit it's tastes... and, in return, the flowers bloomed beautifully.

It ws a spectacular array of colours, making a kaleidescope of vivid bursts of colour and shades. In, as the masterpiece in the centre, Neville has planted an 'Elysia'. It's petals folded gently in many layers, like a rose, but they were such a size and so thick that they seemed like tulips.