she had her mask on over her mouth and nose and was chatting idly with hermione when she started feeling a bit fuzzy. knowing the vision wasn't going to be coming for a bit, she continued on with her conversation. only when she dropped off her sentence did everyone realize a spell was coming.

"oh no -- " said hermione's worried voice.

and that was the last thing elara heard that morning.

she awoke in an armchair some hours or minutes later. it was really hard to keep track of time. she pushed herself up and surveyed the room around her. the person keeping watch was ginny this time, who was staring at her fretfully.

"you've been out for hours," she said, amazed.

"doesn't feel like it," elara grumbled, running a hand down her face. "please tell me lunch isn't over."

"just started," said ginny, standing up from the couch.

without another word, elara dragged ginny to the kitchen. ginny didn't complain, however, as her stomach was growling loudly. ron, hermione, fred, george, and aurora were all eating from a silver tray stacked with sandwiches. ron was staring wistfully at a cake sitting off to the side. elara and ginny took seats next to hermione and began stuffing their faces as well.

"what'd you dream about this time?" said ron through a mouth full of sandwich.

"surprisingly, something really boring. an ugly woman in pink was giving a really long speech, and then it'd switch between that and four people walking in the forbidden forest," said elara. "you'd think it would've been exciting because i was out for what? four hours?"

that afternoon, elara was able to help empty the glass cabinets. it was a job that required a lot of concentration, as many of the objects in there seemed very reluctant to leave their dusty shelves. sirius sustained a bad bite from a silver snuffbox; within seconds, his bitten hand had developed an unpleasant crusty covering like a tough brown glove.

"it's okay," he said, examining the hand with interest before tapping it lightly with his wand and restoring its skin to normal, "must be wartcap powder in there."

he threw the box aside into the sack where they were depositing the debris from the cabinets; elara saw george wrap his own hand carefully in a cloth moments later and sneak the box into his already doxy-filled pocket.

they found an unpleasant-looking silver instrument, something like a many-legged pair of tweezers, which scuttled up elara's arm like a spider when he picked it up, and attempted to puncture her skin; sirius seized it and smashed it with a heavy book entitled nature's nobility: a wizarding genealogy. there was a musical box that emitted a faintly sinister, tinkling tune when wound, and they all found themselves becoming curiously weak and sleepy until ginny had the sense to slam the lid shut; also a heavy locket that none of them could open, a number of ancient seals and, in a dusty box, an order of merlin, first class, that had been awarded to sirius's grandfather for "services to the ministry."

"it means he gave them a load of gold," said sirius contemptuously, throwing the medal into the rubbish sack.

several times, kreacher sidled into the room and attempted to smuggle things away under his loincloth, muttering horrible curses every time they caught him at it. when sirius wrested a large golden ring bearing the black crest from his grip kreacher actually burst into furious tears and left the room sobbing under his breath and calling sirius names elara, surprisingly, had never heard before. she stowed them away before

"it was my father's," said sirius, throwing the ring into the sack. "kreacher wasn't quite as devoted to him as to my mother, but i still caught him snogging a pair of my father's old trousers last week."

mrs. weasley kept them all working very hard over the next few days. the drawing room took three days to decontaminate; finally the only undesirable things left in it were the tapestry of the black family tree, which resisted all their attempts to remove it from the wall, and the rattling writing desk; moody had not dropped by headquarters yet, so they could not be sure what was inside it.

they moved from the drawing room to a dining room on the ground floor where they found spiders large as saucers lurking in the dresser (ron left the room hurriedly to make a cup of tea and did not return for an hour and a half). the china, which bore the black crest and motto, was all thrown unceremoniously into a sack by sirius, and the same fate met a set of old photographs in tarnished silver frames, all of whose occupants squealed shrilly as the glass covering them smashed.

snape might refer to their work as "cleaning," but in elara's opinion they were really waging war on the house, which was putting up a very good fight, aided and abetted by kreacher. the house-elf kept appearing wherever they were congregated, his muttering becoming more and more offensive as he attempted to remove anything he could from the rubbish sacks. sirius went as far as to threaten him with clothes, but kreacher fixed him with a watery stare and said, "kreacher must do as master wishes," before turning away and mutter- ing very loudly, "but master will not turn kreacher away, no, because kreacher knows what they are up to, oh yes, he is plotting against the dark lord, yes, with these mudbloods and traitors and scum. . . ."

at which sirius, ignoring hermione's protests, seized kreacher by the back of his loincloth and threw him bodily from the room.

the doorbell rang several times a day, which was the cue for sirius's mother to start shrieking again, and for elara and the others to attempt to eavesdrop on the visitor, though they gleaned very little from the brief glimpses and snatches of conversation they were able to sneak before mrs. weasley recalled them to their tasks. snape flitted in and out of the house several times more, she also caught sight of her transfiguration teacher, professor mcgonagall, looking very odd in a muggle dress and coat, though she also seemed too busy to linger.

sometimes, however, the visitors stayed to help; nymphie joined them for a memorable afternoon in which they found a murderous old ghoul lurking in an upstairs toilet, and lupin, who was staying in the house with sirius but who left it for long periods to do mysterious work for the order, helped them repair a grandfather clock that had developed the unpleasant habit of shooting heavy bolts at passersby. mundungus redeemed himself slightly in mrs. weasley's eyes by rescuing Ron from an ancient set of purple robes that had tried to strangle him when he removed them from their wardrobe.

despite the fact that she was still sleeping badly, still having dreams and visions about corridors and locked doors, elara was managing to have fun for the first time all summer. as long as she was busy she was happy. they only times she felt wearied was after a night of dreams or after a fainting spell.

elara felt as though a brick had dropped into her stomach when mrs. weasley turned to harry during dinner on wednesday evening and said quietly, "i've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, harry, and i want you to wash your hair tonight too. a good first impression can work wonders."

elara, ron, hermione, fred, george, aurora, and ginny all stopped talking and looked over at him. harry nodded.

"how am i getting there?" he asked mrs. weasley.

"arthur's taking you to work with him," said mrs. weasley gently.

mr. weasley smiled encouragingly at harry across the table.

"you can wait in my office until it's time for the hearing," he said.

harry looked over at sirius, but before he could ask a question, mrs. weasley had answered it.

"professor dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for sirius to go with you, and i must say i —"

" — think he's quite right," said sirius through clenched teeth.

mrs. weasley pursed her lips.

"when did dumbledore tell you that?" harry said, staring at sirius.

"he came last night, when you were in bed," said mr. weasley.

sirius stabbed moodily at a potato with his fork. harry dropped his own eyes to his plate. elara felt another vision coming on. her fork fell out of her hand, and two arms on each side of her flew out to prevent her from falling face first into a plate of food.

there was harry, at his trial. he was sitting in his chair. but he wasn't sad or angry or crestfallen. there was a triumphant smile on his face. he won.

when elara awoke, she was already lying on her bed. not feeling tired at all, she tiptoed across the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen. she made herself a cup of coffee and got to writing her vision down to every last detail. there was a woman she recognized from her vision a few days ago, the one wearing clashing pink outfits and was very ugly. she was present at harry's trial, but she was wearing wizengamot robes.

soon, mrs. weasley arrived in the kitchen. elara offered to help, but again mrs. weasley refused. deciding to take the risk of spilling a white hot substance on herself, elara set to making coffee. she made a good decision too, as mr. weasley stumbled in the kitchen a short amount of time later, looking as murderous as ron did in the mornings. lupin seemed like he'd been up for quite a bit already as he grabbed a cup of coffee from the counter and thanked elara. nymphie came down the stairs next and tripped on the edge of the runner carpet. lupin dove to catch her. sirius filtered down last, looking more murderous than mr. weasley.

lupin and nymphie were talking about scrimgeour when harry came down the stairs, dressed and very tired. mrs. weasley lept to her feet the moment he entered.

"breakfast," she said as she pulled out her wand and hurried over to the fire.

"m-m-morning, harry," yawned nymphie. her hair was blonde and curly this morning. "sleep all right?"

"yeah," said harry.

"i've b-b-been up all night," she said, with another shuddering yawn. "come and sit down. . . ."

she drew out a chair, knocking over the one beside it in the process.

"what do you want, harry?" mrs. weasley called. "porridge? muffins? kippers? bacon and eggs? toast?"

"just — just toast, thanks," said harry.

harry took the seat next to elara, who was already happily chewing her banana nut muffin. she felt much better since her vision of harry winning the trial. she wished to tell him to grant him peace of mind, but it was never a good idea to tell someone you've had a vision of them. mrs. weasley placed a couple of pieces of toast and marmalade in front of harry; he ate a few bites. mrs. weasley sat down on harry's other side and started fussing with his t-shirt, tucking in the label and smoothing out creases across the shoulders.

". . . and i'll have to tell dumbledore i can't do night duty tomorrow, i'm just t-t-too tired," tonks finished, yawning hugely again.

"i'll cover for you," said mr. weasley. "i'm okay, i've got a report to finish anyway. . . ."

mr. weasley was not wearing wizard's robes but a pair of pinstriped trousers and an old bomber jacket. he hadn't gotten the hang of dressing like a muggle just yet. he turned from nymphie to harry.

"how are you feeling?"

harry shrugged.

"it'll be over soon," said elara. "you'll be cleared, i just know."

all the adults in the room looked up at elara quickly. she just shrugged and tried to fight the smirk on her face. harry still said nothing.

"the hearing's on my floor, in amelia bones's office. she's head of the department of magical law enforcement and she's the one who'll be questioning you," said mr. weasley.

"amelia bones is okay, harry," said nymphie earnestly. "she's fair, she'll hear you out."

harry nodded.

"don't lose your temper," said sirius abruptly. "be polite and stick to the facts."

harry nodded again.

"the law's on your side," said lupin quietly. "even underage wizards are allowed to use magic in life-threatening situations."

mrs. weasley was attacking harry's hair with a wet comb. she pressed hard on the top of his head.

"doesn't it ever lie flat?" she said desperately.

"nope," said elara for him.

mr. weasley checked his watch and looked up at harry. "i think we'll go now," he said. "we're a bit early, but i think you'll be better off there than hanging around here."

"okay," said harry automatically, dropping his toast and getting to his feet.

"you'll be all right, harry," said nymphie, patting him on the arm.

"good luck," said lupin. "i'm sure it will be fine."

"and if it's not," said sirius grimly, "i'll see to amelia bones for you. . . ."

"i've got a good feeling anyways," said elara, wrapping harry in a hug.

harry smiled weakly. elara let go and mrs. weasley hugged him.

"we've all got our fingers crossed," she said.

"right," said harry. "well . . . see you later then."

he followed mr. weasley out the door to the kitchen. they were silent for a few moments as they listened for the front door to open and close.

"you totally fancy him," said nymphie, still staring in the direction harry left in.

"do not," said elara, groaning.

"do too."

"you fancy harry?" said sirius.

"that's irrelevant," said elara, who was desperately trying to fight off the blush she could feel coming to her face.

"tonks, i'll bet you ten galleons they get together by the end of the year," said sirius jovially.

"oh yeah? it'll be christmas. harry's desperately in love with her," said nymphie conversationally.

"guys," whined elara.

"i'll put five galleons on the end of the year," said lupin.

elara groaned loudly. it seemed like everyone thought harry and elara were destined to be together. however, elara knew for a fact that harry was currently harboring a crush on cho chang. it was understandable, cho was really nice and mild-mannered. not to mention, she was gorgeous.

the rest of the day went uneventfully. everyone was worried and anxious, more so then when harry was attacked by dementors. he was now at the hands of the ministry. they had proven time and time again that they certainly do not like harry at all. at least with the dementors, they knew he was safe.

even elara, who already knew the result of the trial, was on edge. the anxiety around her was too much. she began to practice metamorposizing to take then attention away from hermione constantly pacing and ron tapping relentlessly on the coffee table.

no visions came that day. normally, they were good distractions for elara and everyone around her. but today, they all had to sit and wallow in anxiety and worry. even fred, george, and aurora, who were usually the ones to lighten up the atmosphere seemed like they were elsewhere.

when dinnertime came around, they heard the front door open. everyone scrambled up from their seats and piled right into the kitchen doorway, waiting for harry to come around the corner. he did, moments later, with the biggest smile on his face.

"i've gotten off," he said rather breathlessly.

the kitchen went into an immediate uproar.

"i knew it!" yelled ron, punching the air. "you always get away with stuff!"

"they were bound to clear you," said hermione, who had looked positively faint with anxiety when harry had entered the kitchen and was now holding a shaking hand over her eyes. "there was no case against you, none at all. . . ."

"i saw it happen last night," said elara. "i knew, but it was still worrying."

"everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering they all knew i'd get off," said harry, smiling.

mrs. weasley was wiping her face on her apron, and fred, george, aurora, and ginny were doing a kind of war dance to a chant that went "he got off, he got off, he got off —"

"that's enough, settle down!" shouted mr. weasley, though he too was smiling. "listen, sirius, lucius malfoy was at the ministry —"

"what?" said sirius sharply.

"he got off, he got off, he got off —"

"be quiet, you four! yes, we saw him talking to fudge on level nine, then they went up to fudge's office together. dumbledore ought to know."

"absolutely," said sirius. "we'll tell him, don't worry."

"well, i'd better get going, there's a vomiting toilet in bethnal green waiting for me. molly, i'll be late, i'm covering for tonks, but kingsley might be dropping in for dinner —"

"he got off, he got off, he got off —"

"that's enough — fred — george — aurora — ginny!" said mrs. weasley, as mr. weasley left the kitchen. "harry dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast. . . ."

ron and hermione sat themselves down opposite harry while elara took a seat next to him. she was happier than she had been since harry had first arrived at number twelve, grimmauld place. the gloomy house seemed warmer and more welcoming all of a sudden; even kreacher looked less ugly as he poked his snoutlike nose into the kitchen to investigate the source of all the noise.

" 'course, once dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you," said ron happily, now dishing great mounds of mashed potatoes onto everyone's plates.

"yeah, he swung it for me," said harry.

harry clapped a hand to his forehead.

"what's up?" said hermione, looking alarmed.

"scar," harry mumbled. "but it's nothing. . . . It happens all the time now. . . ."