her responsibilities were already so much, and now she was 'the savior'? is that what praedo malorum meant? what new things would she have to do? is that why she was the 'particularly powerful seer'? how is harry wrapped up in all this? how did harry get wrapped up in all this? is this why dumbledore hasn't spoken to them in ages? what other things about herself has been kept from elara?

"are you all right, harry, elara?" whispered mrs. weasley, as the train rattled along through its dark tunnel. "you two don't look very well. are you feeling sick?"

they were all watching the pair. harry shook his head violently and stared up at an advertisement for home insurance. elara just shrugged.

"are you sure you're all right?" said mrs. weasley in a worried voice, as they walked around the unkempt patch of grass in the middle of grimmauld place. "you two look ever so pale. . . . are you sure you've slept this morning? you go upstairs to bed right now, and you can have a couple of hours' sleep before dinner, all right?"

elara didn't have any time to answer before she staggered into another vision. she woke up a a few hours later in time for dinner. ron and ginny insisted elara was the one to bring harry down for dinner.

she begrudgingly went up the stairs and down the hall.

"harry," said elara from the doorframe. "dinner's ready — and i know you're awake, so don't pull that 'i'm asleep' bullshit on me. i still hate you, but you're not alone. 'til the end or whatever..." elara trailed off the last part as she turned to go downstairs.

everybody spent the following morning putting up christmas decorations. elara could not remember sirius ever being in such a good mood; he was actually singing carols, apparently delighted that he was to have company over christmas. elara could hear his voice echoing up through the floor in the cold and empty drawing room where she was sitting alone, watching the sky outside the windows growing whiter, threatening snow, giving herself a further sense of peace.

"lara, your bracelet's fallen off," said ginny as they set the table.

"oh, it has, hasn't it?" said elara offhandedly, setting down the plates.

it was around six o'clock in the evening that the doorbell rang and mrs. black started screaming again. hermione had arrived, and was confused as to why harry wasn't downstairs. on the way up to buckbeak's room (where harry was presumably hiding), elara explained what had happened. elara hammered on the door for a few seconds.

"get your ass out here," said elara begrudgingly. "hermione's here, and if your done acting like an edgy, misunderstood, misfit teenager, she'd like to talk to you."

hermione sent her a sharp look. elara shrugged.

"what are you doing here?" harry asked hermione, pulling open the door, as buckbeak resumed his scratching at the straw-strewn floor for any fragments of rat he might have dropped. "i thought you were skiing with your mum and dad."

"well, to tell the truth, skiing's not really my thing," said hermione. "so i've come for christmas. there was snow in her hair and her face was pink with cold. "but don't tell ron that, i told him it's really good because he kept laughing so much. anyway, mum and dad are a bit disappointed, but i've told them that everyone who's serious about the exams is staying at hogwarts to study. they want me to do well, they'll understand. anyway," she said briskly, "let's go to your bedroom, ron's mum's lit a fire in there and she's sent up sandwiches."

elara led the way back to the second floor. ron and ginny were already waiting for them, sitting on ron's bed. elara took a seat next to ginny, leaving hermione to sit next to harry.

"i came on the knight bus," said hermione airily, pulling off her jacket before harry had time to speak. "dumbledore told me what had happened first thing this morning, but i had to wait for term to end officially before setting off. umbridge is already livid that you lot disappeared right under her nose, even though dumbledore told her mr. weasley was in st. mungo's, and he'd given you all permission to visit. so . . ."

hermione sat down next to harry.

"how're you feeling?" asked hermione.

"fine," said harry stiffly.

"oh, don't lie, harry," she said impatiently. "lara, ron, and ginny say you've been hiding from everyone since you got back from st. mungo's."

"they do, do they?" said harry, glaring at elara, ron, and ginny.

ron looked down at his feet but ginny and elara were quite unabashed.

"well, you have! you don't see me shutting everybody out!" said elara.

"and you won't look at any of us!" said ginny.

"it's you lot who won't look at me!" said harry angrily.

"maybe you're taking it in turns to look and keep missing each other," suggested hermione, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"very funny," snapped harry, turning away.

"oh, stop feeling all misunderstood," said elara sharply. "it's getting really annoying."

"look, the others have told me what you overheard last night on the extendable ears —"

"yeah?" growled harry, interrupting hermione. "all been talking about me, have you? well, i'm getting used to it. . . ."

elara glared at him.

"because we're concerned about you, you idiot — "

"we wanted to talk to you, harry," said ginny, "but as you've been hiding ever since we got back —"

"i didn't want anyone to talk to me," said harry.

"okay, captain edgelord," said elara angrily, "you're not the only one in this room who's been affected by voldemort. i'm the fucking 'savior' or whatever... and ginny's the only person that any of us know who's been possessed by you-know-who, so she can tell you how it feels. if you don't shut the hell up about this 'i'm all alone' attitude, i'm going to strangle myself. go ahead, gin."

elara trailed out the room, slamming the door behind her. she passed a mirror and noticed her hair had begun to turn red. she stomped down the stairs, glaring at each portrait she passed. throwing herself in a chair, the adults peered at her.

"its just like james and lily," said sirius with an ambivalent expression. "but, they need to wait until the end of the school year, i'm not losing my money!"

the tarnished chandeliers were no longer hung with cobwebs but with garlands of holly and gold and silver streamers; magical snow glittered in heaps over the threadbare carpets; a great christmas tree, obtained by mundungus and decorated with live fairies, blocked sirius's family tree from view; and even the stuffed elf heads on the hall wall wore father christmas hats and beards.

elara awoke on christmas morning to fred and george standing above her, whacking pots and pans.

"we're doing presents together this year," said george bitterly and promptly apparated out the room, presumably downstairs.

"what's wrong with him?" said elara as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"hasn't seen or snogged rori in a week," said fred. "her parents jetted her off to france. he's pretty bitter."

"relationships are stupid. where's gin and hermione?"

"all waiting for you," said fred with a smile. "you sleep like the dead."

everyone was, in fact, downstairs waiting. aunt meda, uncle ted, and nymphie had joined the festivities and were looking quite nervous. seeing as elara was still waking up, she wanted everyone to go before her. the morning was quite fun despite elara's still ever burning dislike for harry at the moment. all seemed to be forgotten as everyone tore through their presents like ravenous dogs. when elara finally went, she received a book about quidditch from ron that was most definitely was bought with the hope it'd be re-gifted to him, new combat boots from a muggle brand called doc martens from uncle ted, a book titled how to get away with murder from nymphie, a planner that sung constant reminders from hermione, vintage vinyls from aunt meda, and a beautiful navy-blue sweater from mrs. weasley.

"alright," said elara, "is it breakfast time — "

"hold on, lara," said uncle ted, looking more than nervous, "there's one more for you."

everyone was suddenly incredibly attentive as aunt meda slipped an important-looking beige folder from her bag and handed it over to elara. she gave aunt meda, who was chewing on her fingernails, uncle ted, who was fiddling with his thumbs, and nymphie, who was bouncing her leg, all strange looks as she opened up the folder and slipped the singe piece of paper out.

elara's eyes watered. there was no way this was real. did she actually have a real family now? her lower lip quivered as she read the printed words over, and over again. her heart swelled with each read. this was real. this was happening. tears flowed down her face until she burst out.

"it's alright, you don't have too if you don't want — "

elara wasn't able to speak through her tears and instead threw her arms around andromeda, ted, and nymphie. when elara finally calmed, she pulled away, wiping her eyes. she felt as if she was walking on pure air.

"i suppose i have to call you 'mum' and 'dad' now, then?"

once they had had their christmas lunch, the weasleys, the tonks, harry, and hermione were planning to pay mr. weasley another visit, escorted by mad-eye and lupin. mundungus turned up in time for christmas pudding and trifle, having managed to "borrow" a car for the occasion, as the underground did not run on christmas day. the car, which elara doubted very much had been taken with the knowledge or consent of its owner, had had a similar enlarging spell put upon it as the weasleys' old ford anglia; although normally proportioned outside, fourteen people with mundungus driving were able to fit into it quite comfortably. mrs. weasley hesitated at the point of getting inside; elara knew that her disapproval of mundungus was battling with her dislike of traveling without magic; finally the cold outside and her children's pleading triumphed, and she settled herself into the backseat between fred and bill with good grace.

the journey to st. mungo's was quite quick, as there was very little traffic on the roads. a small trickle of witches and wizards were creeping furtively up the otherwise deserted street to visit the hospital. elara and the others got out of the car, and mundungus drove off around the corner to wait for them; they strolled casually toward the window where the dummy in green nylon stood, then, one by one, stepped through the glass.

the reception area looked pleasantly festive: the crystal orbs that illuminated st. mungo's had been turned to red and gold so that they became gigantic, glowing christmas baubles; holly hung around every doorway, and shining white christmas trees covered in magical snow and icicles glittered in every corner, each topped with a gleaming gold star. it was less crowded than the last time they had been there, although halfway across the room elara found herself shunted aside by a witch with a walnut jammed up her left nostril.

"family argument, eh?" smirked the blonde witch behind the desk. "you're the third i've seen today . . . spell damage, fourth floor . . ."

they found mr. weasley propped up in bed with the remains of his turkey dinner on a tray in his lap and a rather sheepish expression on his face.

"everything all right, arthur?" asked mrs. weasley, after they had all greeted mr. weasley and handed over their presents.

"fine, fine," said mr. weasley, a little too heartily. "you — er — haven't seen healer smethwyck, have you?"

"no," said mrs. weasley suspiciously, "why?"

"nothing, nothing," said mr. weasley airily, starting to unwrap his pile of gifts. "well, everyone had a good day? what did you all get for christmas? oh, harry — this is absolutely wonderful —"

for he had just opened harry's gift of fuse-wire and screwdrivers. mrs. weasley did not seem entirely satisfied with mr. weasley's answer. as her husband leaned over to shake harry's hand, she peered at the bandaging under his nightshirt.

"arthur," she said, with a snap in her voice like a mousetrap, "you've had your bandages changed. why have you had your bandages changed a day early, arthur? they told me they wouldn't need doing until tomorrow."

"what?" said mr. weasley, looking rather frightened and pulling the bed covers higher up his chest. "no, no — it's nothing — it's — i —"

he seemed to deflate under mrs. weasley's piercing gaze.

"well — now don't get upset, molly, but augustus pye had an idea. . . . he's the trainee healer, you know, lovely young chap and very interested in . . . um . . . complementary medicine. . . . i mean, some of these old muggle remedies . . . well, they're called stitches, molly, and they work very well on — on muggle wounds —"

mrs. weasley let out an ominous noise somewhere between a shriek and a snarl. lupin strolled away from the bed and over to the werewolf, who had no visitors and was looking rather wistfully at the crowd around mr. weasley; bill muttered something about getting himself a cup of tea and andromeda, ted, fred, and george leapt up to accompany him.

"do you mean to tell me," said mrs. weasley, her voice growing louder with every word and apparently unaware that her fellow visitors were scurrying for cover, "that you have been messing about with muggle remedies?"

"not messing about, molly, dear," said mr. weasley imploringly. "it was just — just something pye and i thought we'd try — only, most unfortunately — well, with these particular kinds of wounds — it doesn't seem to work as well as we'd hoped —"

"meaning?"

"well . . . well, i don't know whether you know what — what stitches are?"

"it sounds as though you've been trying to sew your skin back together," said mrs. weasley with a snort of mirthless laughter, "but even you, arthur, wouldn't be that stupid —"

"i fancy a cup of tea too," said harry, jumping to his feet.

sensing what was about to happen, elara, hermione, ron, and ginny almost sprinted to the door with him. as it swung closed behind them, they heard mrs. weasley shriek, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA?"

"typical dad," said ginny, shaking her head as they set off up the corridor. "stitches . . . i ask you . . ."

"well, you know, they do work well on non-magical wounds," said hermione fairly. "i suppose something in that snake's venom dissolves them or something. . . . i wonder where the tearoom is?"

"fifth floor," said harry, remembering the sign over the welcome witch's desk.

they walked along the corridor through a set of double doors and found a rickety staircase lined with more portraits of brutal-looking healers. as they climbed it, the various Healers called out to them, diagnosing odd complaints and suggesting horrible remedies. they only shut up when elara threatened to hex them.

"what floor's this?"

"i think it's the fifth," said hermione.

"nah, it's the fourth," said harry, "one more —"

but as he stepped onto the landing he came to an abrupt halt, staring at the small window set into the double doors that marked the start of a corridor signposted spell damage. a man was peering out at them all with his nose pressed against the glass. he had wavy blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a broad vacant smile that revealed dazzlingly white teeth.

"blimey!" said ron, also staring at the man.

"oh god," groaned elara.

"oh my goodness," said hermione suddenly, sounding breathless. "professor lockhart!"

their ex-defense against the dark arts teacher pushed open the doors and moved toward them, wearing a long lilac dressing gown. "well, hello there!" he said. "i expect you'd like my autograph, would you?"

"hasn't changed much, has he?" harry muttered to elara, who struggled with herself before giving him a pained grin.

"er — how are you, professor?" said ron, sounding slightly guilty.

"i'm very well indeed, thank you!" said lockhart exuberantly, pulling a rather battered peacock-feather quill from his pocket. "now, how many autographs would you like? i can do joined-up writing now, you know!"

"er — we don't want any at the moment, thanks," said ron, raising his eyebrows at harry, who asked, "professor, should you be wandering around the corridors? shouldn't you be in a ward?"

the smile faded slowly from lockhart's face. for a few moments he gazed intently at harry, then he said, "haven't we met?"

"er . . . yeah, we have," said harry. "you used to teach us at hogwarts, remember?"

"teach?" repeated lockhart, looking faintly unsettled. "me? did i?"

and then the smile reappeared upon his face so suddenly it was rather alarming. "taught you everything you know, i expect, did i? well, how about those autographs, then? shall we say a round dozen, you can give them to all your little friends then and nobody will be left out!"

but just then a head poked out of a door at the far end of the corridor and a voice said, "gilderoy, you naughty boy, where have you wandered off to?"

a motherly looking healer wearing a tinsel wreath in her hair came bustling up the corridor, smiling warmly at harry and the others.