Elysia Dumbledore [A Harry Potter Fan Fiction]

Chapter Twenty-Eight ~ Closure

"Elle? Are you awake?" whispered a soothing voice in the distance.

My eyes flickered open, searching for the source of the noise. I was wary of any sound, thinking a voice would rattle out at any moment, ordering me to kill someone. Neville sat beside me, dark rings under his eyes, but a spark in the depths of his grey irises.

"Where am I?" I croaked, not even bothering to look around me.

"Mungo's, again." he said grimly, stroking the hair from my face.

"How long?" I muttered, my eyes still adjusting to the light.

"It's the second week of the term,” he said simply, shrugging it off like it was nothing.

"The... voices. Where are they?" I continued, feeling as though they would return at any moment.

"We had a specialist in Occlumency come in to work on helping you. They've put up heaps of these 'mental walls' to help you."

I blinked, considering the idea. The voices were... gone. Done, finished. I smiled widely, splitting the dried blood over the deep gashes on the side of my face. Neville edged his hand towards the nurse’s bell, but I stopped him.

"I made a spell, 'Heal'. It should fix it." I murmured, closing my eyes as the blood began to seep again.

"Heal... Heal... Heal..." Neville chanted, his eyes fixed on the wound.

A tingling feeling spread over my face as the skin stitched itself back together again, leaving, no doubt, barely any trace of a scar. Nev's eyes widened in awe as his work succeeded, healing my cuts completely. We seemed to sit there for an eternity, basking in each other’s smiles, jokes and tales.

"I'm sorry for all of this, Nev." I said finally, interrupting the blissful avoidance that we had built around the year that was passing so quickly.

"Don't be sorry," he began, before I signalled for him to stop.

"I thought that when we finally 'happened', that it would be perfect. You're all that I wanted, ever, but...I- I've lost so much, and I have so much more to lose, and nothing to gain. I don't want you to hurt because of me, it's not right. Maybe we should... I don't know..." I stammered, struggling to find the words that could possibly convey what I needed to say.

"We can't give up now, Ell... You're wrong about having nothing to gain, you have everything to gain." he said solemnly, clutching my hand to his chest.

"But you're too young for all this bullshit..." I said, exasperated.

"And you're too young to do everything alone!" he added, his tone rising.

I paused, angrily glaring at Neville beside my bed. I stared at my best friend, his grey eyes as stubborn as my own eyes. There wasn't a secret, a passing thought or lingering wish that I could tell him, so why couldn't I get rid of him?

Why couldn't I set him free? I mean, that's what you're supposed to do when you know that you're only going to hurt the person you love. Crossing my hands over my chest, I contemplated what could possibly happen next.

"This is going to work out." he said reassuringly, resting his hand against my shoulder.

"I know..." I confided in him, letting my hopes spill out of my throat.

I wished that this moment could have lasted, but apparently the second I was lucid I would have to return to Hogwarts. I visited Mr and Mrs Longbottom, who were now speaking fragmented sentences, and could clearly recognise Neville.

Invigorated with a new flicker of hope, I decided to leave my losses in London, mournfully staring at the river where the bridge had once crossed. Fractured metal poles still splintered out of the water, and the funerals had long been held.