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𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

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the kindest words my father said to me

women like you drown oceans

·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

along a mountain road in the cool, blue light of dawn. Far below, swathed in mist, was the shadow of a small town. Was the man she sought down there? The man she needed so badly she could think of little else, the man who held the answer, the answer to her problem ...

'Hey, wake up.'

Elara opened her eyes. She was lying again on the old mattress in Ginny's room. The sun had not yet risen and the room was still shadowy. Elara sat up to find both Ginny and Hermione looking at her curiously.

'You were muttering in your sleep,' said Ginny curiously.

'Was I?'

'Yeah. "Gregorovitch." You kept saying "Gregorovitch".'

'Who's Gregorovitch?'

'I dunno, do I? You were the one saying it.'

Elara rubbed her forehead, laughing. She had a vague idea she had heard the name before, but she could not think where.

'I think Voldemort's looking for him.'

'Poor man,' said Hermione fervently.

Elara tried to remember exactly what she had seen in the dream, but all that came back was a mountainous horizon and the outline of the little village cradled in a deep valley.

'I think he's abroad.'

'Who, Gregorovitch?'

'Voldemort. I think he's somewhere abroad, looking for Gregorovitch. It didn't look like anywhere in Britain.'

There was silence.

"At any rate," said Hermione, pushing herself up and out of bed, "It's Harry's birthday today."

"Oh, shit," said Elara, jumping up, "I'll be right back!"

She ran up the stairs as quietly as she could, suspecting people were still asleep as it was very early in the morning. She whipped open the door to find Harry's glasses hitting him in the face.

"Bad time?"

Ron laughed.

"Anyways, Happy Birthday! You're officially as old as I am!" said Elara, sitting next to him.

Harry groaned.

"When will you stop teasing me about my age?"

"When you learn to respect your elders."

"You two fight like a married couple. With that being said, I better be your Best Man, Harry, or I will not be coming," said Ron, a huge smile on his face.

"Yeah, right," said Elara, "You'd be drunk off your ass before you could even make a toast."

Harry fell back, howling with laughter. Ron rolled his eyes.

"I have your present, Harry. Unwrap it up here, it's not for my mother's eyes,' said Ron.

'A book?' said Harry, as he took the rectangular parcel. 'Bit of a departure from tradition, isn't it?'

'This isn't your average book,' said Ron. 'It's pure gold: Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches. Explains everything you need to know about girls. If only I'd had this last year, I'd have known exactly how to get rid of Lavender and I would've known how to get going with ... well, Fred and George gave me a copy, and I've learned a lot. You'd be surprised, it's not all about wandwork, either.'

"Harry seems to be doing just fine without the book," said Elara, laughing, "I wouldn't trust anything Fred and George give you either. Anyways, I don't think Hermione would appreciate you reading a book to learn how to get going with her. Well, she'd appreciate you reading, but not that."

Ron turned impossibly red.

"Just tone down the apathy and keep up with her in conversation," said Elara, "I promise you, Ron, it's not as hopeless as you might think."

Harry's and Ron's heads whipped over to her.

"What — "

"Lara, wait — "

But Elara had floated out the doorway, feeling smug. She arrived in the kitchen to find Bill and Monsieur Delacour finishing their breakfast. Harry and Ron came thundering down the stars after her, pausing once they saw they were not alone.

'Arthur told me to wish you a happy seventeenth, Harry,' said Mrs Weasley, beaming at Harry. 'He had to leave early for work, but he'll be back for dinner. That's our present on top.'

Harry sat down, took the square parcel she had indicated and unwrapped it. Elara peered over his shoulder to see inside was a watch very like the one Mr and Mrs Weasley had given Ron for his seventeenth; it was gold, with stars circling round the face instead of hands.

'It's traditional to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age,' said Mrs Weasley, watching him anxiously from beside the cooker. 'I'm afraid that one isn't new like Ron's, it was actually my brother Fabian's and he wasn't terribly careful with his possessions, it's a bit dented on the back, but –'

The rest of her speech was lost; Harry had got up and hugged her. She patted his cheek clumsily when he released her, then waved her wand in a slightly random way, causing half a pack of bacon to flop out of the frying pan on to the floor.

'Happy birthday, Harry!' said Hermione, hurrying into the kitchen and adding her own present to the top of the pile. 'It's not much, but I hope you like it. What did you get him?' she added to Ron, who seemed not to hear her.

'Open Hermione's!' said Elara.

She had bought him a new Sneakoscope. The other packages contained an enchanted razor from Bill and Fleur ('Ah yes, zis will give you ze smoothest shave you will ever 'ave,' Monsieur Delacour assured him, 'but you must tell it clearly what you want ... ozzer wise you might find you 'ave a leetle less hair zan you would like ...'), chocolates from the Delacours and an enormous box of the latest Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes merchandise from Fred, George, and Aurora.

Elara, Harry, Ron and Hermione did not linger at the table, as the arrival of Madame Delacour, Fleur and Gabrielle made the kitchen uncomfortably crowded.

'I'll pack these for you,' Hermione said brightly, taking Harry's presents out of his arms as the four of them headed back upstairs. 'I'm nearly done, I'm just waiting for the rest of your pants to come out of the wash, Ron –'

Ron's splutter was interrupted by the laughter of Elara.

"Oh," said Elara, "I forgot to give you your present, Harry."

"You didn't need to get me anything."

"Shut up, Wonder Boy. We'll be right back," said Elara to Ron and Hermione, tugging Harry down the stairs and out the door.

She pulled him across the garden and outside The Burrow's magical enchantments, hopefully avoiding detection from Mrs. Weasley and any other adults who might chastise them for their recklessness.

They were in the meadow they were in last year when they had made a last-minute decision to stargaze in celebration of Harry's sixteenth.

There was a slight breeze as they raced to the middle of the meadow, laughing.

"So," said Harry, lying on his back, "What's my present?"

"I've been studying — "

"You've been studying?"

"Shut up," said Elara, rolling her eyes and joining Harry on the ground, "I've been studying the extents of my power with the scrolls Anya gave me before our last session, you know, the ones Hermione insisted she translate for practice for her Ancient Rune exams?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, it appears I can project memories. For example. . . ."

Elara squeezed her eyes shut and thought about the first time she and Harry had met. When she reopened them, they were both at Hogwarts again, watching their younger selves interact for the first time.

"Here, let me try," offered First-year Elara softly.

First-year Harry looked at her, startled. He nodded slowly and Elara reached her hands up and tried to somewhat flatten his unkempt hair. Elara gave up after his hair kept sticking up in random places. She pulled her hands back and shrugged.

"It's no use," grumbled Harry.

"My hair's normally like that too, but I changed it for today," reassured Elara.

"I'm Harry Potter, by the way."

Elara froze up before responding.

"I'm uh... I'm Elara — "

The scene faded as Elara and Harry sprung into laughter at how awkward and clueless they had been only six years ago. They sat and watched replays of their past experiences and adventures they had embarked, laughing especially hard at Elara flipping off Rita Skeeter.

"You always give the best gifts," said Harry, as the last memory faded from around them.

"I know," said Elara, standing up and wiping herself of dirt. "We should probably head back before Mrs. Weasley murders us."

Charlie's arrival came as a relief to the pair. It provided a distraction for them to sneak back in, watching Mrs Weasley force Charlie into a chair, raise her wand threateningly and announce that he was about to get a proper haircut.

As Harry's birthday dinner would have stretched The Burrow's kitchen to breaking point even before the arrival of Charlie, Remus, Nymphie and Hagrid, several tables were placed end to end in the garden. Fred, George, and Aurora bewitched a number of purple lanterns, all emblazoned with a large number '17', to hang in mid-air over the guests.

Thanks to Mrs Weasley's ministrations, George's wound was neat and clean, but Elara was not yet used to the dark hole in the side of his head, despite the twins' and Aurora's many jokes about it.

Hermione made purple and gold streamers erupt from the end of her wand and drape themselves artistically over the trees and bushes.

'Nice,' said Ron, as with one final flourish of her wand, Hermione turned the leaves on the crab-apple tree to gold. 'You've really got an eye for that sort of thing.'

'Thank you, Ron!' said Hermione, looking both pleased and a little confused.

Elara sidled up to Ron as Hermione turned away to begin working on another task.

"You'll be with her in a month at this rate," said Elara, to which Ron vehemetly denied.

'Out of the way, out of the way!' sang Mrs Weasley, coming through the gate with what appeared to be a giant, beach-ball-sized Snitch floating in front of her.

Seconds later Elara realised that it was Harry's birthday cake, which Mrs Weasley was suspending with her wand rather than risk carrying it over the uneven ground.

When the cake had finally landed in the middle of the table, Harry said, 'That looks amazing, Mrs Weasley.'

'Oh, it's nothing, dear,' she said fondly.

Over her shoulder, Elara and Ron gave Harry the thumbs up and mouthed, Good one.

By seven o'clock, all the guests had arrived, led into the house by Fred and George, who had waited for them at the end of the lane. Hagrid had honoured the occasion by wearing his best, and horrible, hairy brown suit. Although Remus smiled as he shook Harry's hand, Elara thought he looked rather unhappy.

It was all very odd; Nymphie, beside him, looked simply radiant. Elara suspected something was up as Nymphie hugged her very loosely and denied a glass of wine.

'Happy birthday, Harry,' said Nymphie, hugging him loosely as well.

'Seventeen, eh!' said Hagrid, as he accepted a bucket-sized glass of wine from Fred. 'Six years ter the day since we met, Harry, d'yeh remember it?'

'Vaguely,' said Harry, grinning up at him. 'Didn't you smash down the front door, give Dudley a pig's tail and tell me I was a wizard?'

'I forge' the details,' Hagrid chortled. 'All righ', Ron, Hermione, Lara?'

'We're fine,' said Hermione. 'How are you?'

'Ar, not bad. Bin busy, we got some newborn unicorns, I'll show yeh when yeh get back –'

Elara avoided Harry, Ron, and Hermione's gaze as Hagrid rummaged in his pocket.

'Here, Harry – couldn' think whatter get yeh, but then I remembered this.'

He pulled out a small, slightly furry drawstring pouch with along string, evidently intended to be worn around the neck. 'Moke skin. Hide anythin' in there an' no one but the owner can get it out. They're rare, them.'

'Hagrid, thanks!'

''S'nothin',' said Hagrid, with a wave of a dustbin-lid-sized hand. 'An' there's Charlie! Always liked him – hey! Charlie!'

Charlie approached, running his hand slightly ruefully over his new, brutally short haircut. He was shorter than Ron, thickset, with a number of burns and scratches up his muscly arms.

'Hi, Hagrid, how's it going?'

'Bin meanin' ter write fer ages. How's Norbert doin'?'

'Norbert?' Charlie laughed. 'The Norwegian Ridgeback? We call her Norberta now.'

'Wha – Norbert's a girl?

''Oh yeah,' said Charlie.

'How can you tell?' asked Elara, rather excited to learn about dragons.

'They're a lot more vicious,' said Charlie. He looked over his shoulder and dropped his voice. 'Wish Dad would hurry up and get here. Mum's getting edgy.'

They all looked over at Mrs Weasley. She was trying to talk to Madame Delacour while glancing repeatedly at the gate.

'I think we'd better start without Arthur,' she called to the garden at large after a moment or two. 'He must have been held up at – oh!'

They all saw it at the same time: a streak of light that came flying across the yard and on to the table, where it resolved itself into a bright silver weasel, which stood on its hind legs and spoke with Mr Weasley's voice.

'Minister for Magic coming with me.'

The Patronus dissolved into thin air, leaving Fleur's family peering in astonishment at the place where it had vanished. Elara groaned loudly.

'We shouldn't be here,' said Remus at once. 'Harry – I'm sorry – I'll explain another time –'

He seized Nymphie's wrist and pulled her away; they reached the fence, climbed over it and vanished from sight. Elara and Mrs Weasley looked bewildered.

"What the hell is wrong with him?"

'The Minister – but why –? I don't understand –'

But there was no time to discuss the matter; a second later, Mr Weasley had appeared out of thin air at the gate, accompanied by Rufus Scrimgeour, instantly recognisable by his mane of grizzled hair.

The two newcomers marched across the yard towards the garden and the lantern-lit table, where everybody sat in silence, watching them draw closer. As Scrimgeour came within range of the lantern light, Elara saw that he looked much older than the last time they had met, scraggy and grim.

'Sorry to intrude,' said Scrimgeour, as he limped to a halt before the table. 'Especially as I can see that I am gatecrashing a party.'

His eyes lingered for a moment on the giant Snitch cake.

'Many happy returns.'

'Thanks,' said Harry.

'I require a private word with you and Elara,' Scrimgeour went on. 'Also with Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger.'

'Us?' said Ron, sounding surprised. 'Why us?'

'I shall tell you that when we are somewhere more private,' said Scrimgeour. 'Is there such a place?' he demanded of Mr Weasley.

'Yes, of course,' said Mr Weasley, who looked nervous. 'The, er, sitting room, why don't you use that?'

'You can lead the way,' Scrimgeour said to Ron. 'There will be no need for you to accompany us, Arthur.'

Elara saw Mr Weasley exchange a worried look with Mrs Weasley as she, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood up. As they led the way back to the house in silence, Elara knew that the other three were thinking the same as she was: Scrimgeour must, somehow, have learned that the four of them were planning to dropout of Hogwarts.

Scrimgeour did not speak as they all passed through the messy kitchen and into The Burrow's sitting room. Although the garden had been full of soft, golden evening light, it was already dark in here: Elara flicked her wand at the oil lamps as she entered and they illuminated the shabby but cosy room.

Scrimgeour sat himself in the sagging armchair that Mr Weasley normally occupied, leaving Elara, Harry, Ron, and Hermione to squeeze side by side on the sofa. Once they had done so, Scrimgeour spoke.

'I have some questions for the four of you, and I think it will be best if we do it individually. If you three,' he pointed at Elara, Harry, and Hermione, 'can wait upstairs, I will start with Ronald.'

Elara laughed.

'We're not going anywhere,' she said coldly, while Harry and Hermione nodded vigorously. 'You can speak to us together, or not at all.'

Scrimgeour gave Elara a cold, appraising look. Elara had the impression that the Minister was wondering whether it was worth while opening hostilities this early.

'Very well, then, together,' he said, shrugging. He cleared his throat. 'I am here, as I'm sure you know, because of Albus Dumbledore's will.'

Elara, Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at one another.

'A surprise, apparently! You were not aware, then, that Dumbledore had left you anything?'

'A – all of us?' said Ron. 'Me and Hermione too?'

'Yes, all of –'

But Harry interrupted.

'Dumbledore died over a month ago. Why has it taken this long to give us what he left us?'

'Isn't it obvious?' said Hermione, before Scrimgeour could answer. 'They wanted to examine whatever he's left us. You had no right to do that!' she said, and her voice trembled slightly.