Snape's Daughter (Book Three)

Chapter Four : The Guilt Trip

They entered the Hogs Head to be greeted by a angry Molly and a slightly amused Aberforth.

"Where have you been?" She demanded, her arms crossed over each other and a scowl on her face, "We've been worried sick because we couldn't find you."

"Hogwarts," Ellia replied, stepping out of the way to allow the portrait to swing shut.

"Hogwarts? What on earth where you doing there?" Molly asked the trio, as George slid onto a chair beside Draco and Ellia.

"Just thought we'd have a wonder around," George replied, shrugging his shoulders as his mother shook her head before signing.

"Just let us know next time," Molly sighed, exiting the room as Aberforth chuckled behind her.

"Teenagers," He chuckled, taking a place down opposite George, "Did you speak to Minerva by any chance?"

"Yeah, she seems well," Ellia answered, resting her head on Draco's shoulder as he slid his arm around her waist securely.

"Hmm yes I thought she would. She very much suits the position of headmistress at Hogwarts. I'm taking it you'll be staying for a while Ellia?" Aberforth asked her, smiling to see her engaged with her boyfriend.

"If that is swell with you?" Ellia asked him.

"Swell? Well, yes, yes it is. Your room is just to the left," Aberforth informed her, pointing towards a wooden door beside the kitchen cabinets, "And Draco, there's a spare mattress in there for you to sleep on."

"Thanks Aberforth," Ellia said, walking towards the door and pulling on the door handle. Pushing the door open, her eyes were greeted with the sight of an old rustic bedroom, with a bed, Chester drawers, and a small window. Draco's mattress was placed up against the one of the walls, and Aberforth had very generously laid out all the sheets for them on the bed, and put their luggage in there.

"Goodnight Ellia," Molly, Aberforth and George said, as she stepped in the room with Draco close on her tail. Closing the door behind him, he perched down on the mattress, watching Ellia as she climbed into the bed.

"You'll wake me up if you need me, right?" Draco asked her, reaching for his bag and dragging it to his side.

"Yeah don't worry about me," Ellia smiled, laying back and resting her head against the pillow, "The only thing I'd complain about would be my lack of night robes."

"Do you want to borrow some of mine? I have plenty," Draco offered her, dragging out a long black robe from his bag.

"No it's fine. I have spare clothes in my bag, I'll just sleep in this. I'm too tired to fuss anyway," She said, tucking herself under the covers and digging her back into the bed to make herself comfortable.

"Ok. Goodnight," Draco said, as Ellia rolled over onto her side.

"Goodnight," she replied, closing her eyes as she drifted off to sleep.

The air was spiteful and chilling around her, the sunlight not able to peer through the gaps of the mist. The floor beneath her crumbled as she stepped up the pathway. Her surroundings weren't yet clear, but it seemed like she was in some sort of graveyard. As she edged nearer to what appeared to be a single tombstone, she knelt down in front of it, brushing away the dust that covered the name. Falling backwards after reading the name, she started to panic, frantically running around the early scene to find an exit. It was no use. The mist continued to trail along her back, the path below her crumbling away into what seemed like an era of nothingness. Collapsing on the floor, she found herself sitting up in a clear boxlike room, as if the surroundings beforehand had been vacuumed away. Her eyes studied the surroundings around her ; brown, cold, pitiful. The room screamed at her, watching her panic as she sprinted from wall to wall, using all her weight to try and knock them down.