The Girl Who Lived

Hogwarts; circa 1976

May 30th, 1996.
Grimmauld Place, London.
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Elena had not moved since she had woken up.

Her muscles were too stiff, bones too brittle, heart too full.

She wanted to cry and scream but she couldn't.

There was too much running wild in her head to ever focus on one simple thought. Each event of yesterday passed through her like it was nothing, as if it had never really happened.

Was she only dreaming when she had seen Draco's Patronus take the form of a lion- the pair of her lioness Patronus?

No, that had actually happened.

And she had actually said nothing and run away like a coward.

Elena groaned, slapping her forehead harshly. It stung but she deserved it after what she had done.

It was her fault anyway. Being stupid enough to show Malfoy how to conjure a Patronus, being stupid enough to just stand there like a damned tree and she had run away.

"Harry!" Elena sprinted into the Gryffindor common room, wheezing for air. It was not a short journey from the Forbidden Forest all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.

Harry turned around, standing straight. "Wotcher, Lena. Ready to go?"

Elena nodded frantically, pulling the sleeve of her brother's sweater.

"Wait, is everything alright?" Harry asked, holding her hands and surveying if she was bleeding.

No blood or any bruises, no traces of dark magic. Just sweat beads on her forehead and neck.

Elena forced a weak smile on her face. It was all she could manage. After everything that she had seen that day, there was no energy left to pretend everything was alright. But she would put on the same smile her mother used to the morning after her father would hurt her, and Elena would pretend everything was alright.

"Everything is fine, just excited to see Padfoot and Moony." Elena smiled, coaxing her body to relax.

Harry grinned, sliding his own bag on his shoulder. He took her hand, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. A small effort of comfort.

The pair left Gryffindor Tower and Elena couldn't help but duck down each time she thought she saw a flash of white hair and black clothes. Which was a lot of damn times.

If Draco caught up with her and demanded answers, Elena knew she couldn't give them to him.

What was she supposed to even say? 'Oh yeah, sorry I ran away. It's just the fact that our Patronus' are paired together and I'm drastically afraid of what that means for us and my relationship with Fred because I'm too much of a coward to face everything I have tangled myself in, that fucks me up when I try and think about it!'

Definitely not.

"That's the third time you've ducked when a Slytherin passed you," Harry said, narrowing his bright eyes at Elena. "Did you infect them with Dragon Pox or something?"

Telling Harry was even worse than telling Rita damn Skeeter herself. He would tell Ron and Hermione, and Hermione would run to Ginny and Ginny would go to George and George would tell Lee and Lee would tell Fred and Elena would end up tossing herself off a cliff.

Dangerous and vicious gossips, these Gryffindors.

"Believe me, if I was going to purposefully spread a disease in Slytherin, I would release the Black Plague," Elena snorted softly, subtly peeking over Harry's lanky shoulder.