fade into you || d.m

lightning has struck

A song for the chapter: O Children - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

It was nightfall by the time the quartet were finally ready to apparate to Hogsmeade. There was tension in the air, and everyone felt frightened of what the future would hold.

"We can do this. Just stay close to each other and we'll be fine." Harry stated, trying to sound confident, but to Elwia it just seemed like a weak attempt to convince himself.

Hogsmeade was quiet and lifeless, but when taking into account that it was also 11 o'clock at night, it made it somewhat understandable. The silence was quickly disrupted by the alarm that began ringing, alerting the Death Eaters of their presence.

"To the shed, quick!" Harry whispered and ran to an open shed behind one of the tables.

"They went this way!" A Death Eater shouted.

Elwia held her breath while kneeling behind a wooden table, hearing the Death Eaters' footsteps coming closer by the second. Just when she thought they would flip over the table and find them, the intruder alarm began ringing in another location.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, quickly stood up, and ran somewhere else. As they were running past the Hog's Head inn, a voice called for them from the back entrance.

"In here, Potter."

Harry was doubtful at first but obeyed after the man repeated, "Come on, move!"

Elwia's eyes widened when she saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron follow the mysterious man into the building. What if it was a Death Eater luring them in? There was no way she would go inside. Nevertheless, Elwia gave up, went inside, and walked past the man, her shock growing even more when she saw his face.

"Did you look at him? For a second I thought that was..." Ron whisper-shouted after Elwia had joined them downstairs.

"I know... Dumbledore." Hermione nodded and looked at her surroundings, taking interest in a mirror that hung on the wall. "Harry? I can see you in this." She noted before the mystery man came stomping down the stairs.

"Bloody fools, what are you thinking coming here? Have you any idea how dangerous it is?" He asked in a raised voice, throwing his hand in the air.

"Excuse me?" Elwia laughed, confused by the man's reaction.

Then Harry stepped in and said, "You're Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother. It's you who I've been seeing in the mirror. You're the one who sent Dobby."

Elwia raised her eyebrows at the news, having had no idea that Dumbledore had a brother. But then again, it wasn't much of a surprise—not long ago, she had forgotten that Dumbledore was his last name, not his first. It was only at his funeral that Elwia found out his real name was Albus, and then she quickly forgot about that. It hadn't been a particularly useful piece of information to her.

"Right. Where have you left him?" Aberforth asked and began hassling in the kitchen area.

"He's dead." Harry responded stiffly.

Aberforth stopped what he was doing and, with an apologetic voice, said, "Sorry to hear it. I liked that elf."

"Who gave you that? The mirror?" Harry questioned curiously.

"Mundungus Fletcher, about a year ago." Aberforth answered.

"He had no right selling that to you. He must've stolen it when coming to the Order meetings. That mirror belongs to Sirius." Harry crossed his hands.

Elwia rolled her eyes, not really understanding what the big deal was. If Aberforth hadn't had the mirror, she'd probably still be rotting on the dungeon floor at Malfoy Manor.