Moonlight

10- A Toast to the Groom

      Ellie began to often go out in public in disguise to keep citizens safe. Ultimately, she was glad that her and Oliver had postponed their wedding. With everything being on high alert, and a new Minister of Magic (since Fudge had been sacked), it would not have been a good time to hold a wedding. Not only that, but Oliver was working on getting promoted, meaning he spent lots of hours training, so he didn't have time to plan one.

October 27, 1996

Lupin stepped inside 12 Grimmauld Place, where Ellie now stayed as to not bring trouble to her parents or fiance through the Order. She kept her eyes on the newspaper until she looked up and saw the former professor. "Ellie, may I talk to you about something?" he requested.

The blonde nodded. "Of course, what do you need?" she questioned.

"I just need to talk... I think I love your sister back, but I'm scared that she'll stop loving me. That I'm too old for her, or won't be able to provide for her, or I'll forget my Wolfsbane potion and hurt her..." Remus vented.

"Lup- er- Remus, my sister doesn't care about any of that. She loves you for you. I see the way she looks at you. That love isn't going to go away. She loves your soul."

The man let out a small smile. "Thank you, your words are much appreciated."

"No problem. I'm always happy to help. You're like... the brother with an awkward age gap that I never had," she laughed a bit.

Remus chuckled. "I need to grab something and then get going."

June 30, 1997

Dumbledore had called in the Order of the Phoenix to protect Hogwarts, so Ellie and the other members patrolled the campus. Somehow, it seemed that ever since Cedric died, the skies were more frequently grey. Perhaps it was a mere coincidence, but the change in mood had occurred regardless of the whether. As she looked around, she could remember joyous times with her closest friends in these places. Now two of them were dead, Oliver played for Puddlemere United, and Bruno owned a shop in Diagon Alley where he brewed potions for people in exchange for galleons, although Death Eaters had forced him to close, at least temporarily.

Suddenly, while she was lost in thought, Ellie's stomach began to feel like it had been impaled. The pain spread all through her abdomen, and to her limbs, which felt like they had all the bones in them broken. Her lower stomach cramped with more intensity than it ever had before. It was several times more painful than her usual full moon transformations. She screamed out in agony as she fell to the ground.

A Death Eater had cast the Cruciatus Curse on Ellie, simply to get her out of the way, so they could accomplish their task. And it worked, as Ellie's vocal cords strained from screaming to where she could no longer, and she ultimately fell unconscious from how much pain she was in.

Ellie woke up in the Hospital Wing when the battle was over. Her vision was blurred, although the lingering sensation of pain wasn't. But slowly, she was able to see the scene. There were several other wounded people, and in the bed next to her was Bill Weasley. She noticed the new scars on his face, and wanted to ask if he was okay, yet her throat was so sore she couldn't hardly speak.

Tonks gently took and squeezed her sister's hand, and noticed her gaze. "He's okay, El. It's not a full moon, so he'll be fine," she explained to her.

Ellie gave her sister as much of a nod as she could. She'd probably have to spend the entire day in there, which wasn't much fun, but hopefully, she'd heal up.

Madam Pomfrey came around and cast a pain-dulling spell on Ellie. It didn't make it completely go away, but it was greatly lessened.

"Ellie, do you want the bad news or the good news first?" Tonks asked her sister.