A Life Rewritten

Part 6 - The Boy Who Lived

Laurie continued her lessons, study sessions with Mortimer and sessions with Professor Snape as best she could, trying to keep her feelings for the Potions Master at the back of her mind.

Her relationship with Elend was progressing very slowly as the boy was extremely nervous about public displays of affection, and being in a school, there weren't many opportunities for privacy.

The two had taken trips to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade to get away from the school environment, but they always seemed to bump into someone they knew, or Elend complained about it being too busy. In essence, the first two months of Laurie's sixth year were very demanding; she thanked Merlin that she didn't have to worry about keeping her family's secret anymore, on top of everything else.

On the morning of the 1st November, Laurie and her friends were sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall having breakfast. It was a chilly Sunday, and the first snow of the year began to fall outside.

Laurie was eating porridge whilst reading from her Transfiguration textbook, studying the passage on Human Transfiguration. Mortimer was sleeping with his head on a green woollen jumper on the table,

'For once he's not hungry.' Lowenna laughed with the group as Mortimer snored loudly,

'All this catch-up Potions studying seems to really be taking its toll on him, how's he getting on with you, Laurie?' Elend asked concerned,

'His exam is at the end of this week, I'm glad Snape agreed to let him retake but he's only just scraping "Outstanding" in the mock tests I've been giving him... I'm worried he's reached burnout, to be honest,' Laurie replied looking at her exhausted friend worriedly. Elend put a gentle hand on Laurie's thigh under the table, this was about as far as he'd go after their kiss in the stairway alcove,

'You look not too far behind him, Laurie,' Elend said, 'hopefully after Mort's exam you can get your Saturdays back and rest.' he added with a hopeful tone. Laurie shrugged as the morning post started being dropped from the ceiling. Nothing of interest landed in front of Laurie, just a copy of the Daily Prophet, so she continued eating her porridge.

Suddenly gasps and cheers began to rise from all around the Great Hall, causing Mortimer to jump, he rubbed his eyes and wearily looked around,

'W-what's going on?' he asked drearily, to which he received shrugs from Laurie and Lowenna. Elend grabbed Laurie's copy of the Daily Prophet and read the front page,

'Oh my god...' he breathed in disbelief causing the three to stop what they were doing to listen to Elend, 'Voldemort's been defeated!' he exclaimed with a nervous smile,

'What?! No way, how?!' Lowenna demanded, in shock, a hint of worry in her eyes. Suddenly three black envelopes landed in front of Lowenna, Mortimer and Elend, and many more landed in front of students sat along the Slytherin table. Lowenna grabbed the one addressed to her and hastily opened it; she hardly ever got letters from home,

'Apparently someone named Harry Potter defeated him... but wait he's only a baby! His parents, James and Lily Potter were killed by Voldemort, but he couldn't kill the boy, how is that possible?' Elend said, summarising what he was reading in the front-page article.

He looked up at Lowenna expecting a reply but saw her reading the letter from the black envelope, she looked pale, 'What's the matter?' he asked frowning at Lowenna's expression,

'Guys, you need to read your letters...' Lowenna said shakily,

'Why haven't I got one?' Laurie protested as Elend and Mortimer raced to open their letters, eyes flitting from one line to the next, both of their faces going pale. 'What's going on?!' Laurie demanded, exasperated by this point at no one telling her anything. Elend looked up, fear in his eyes,

'It's from the Ministry... it says my parents have been arrested and sent to Azkaban for crimes against the Ministry of Magic.' Elend said amongst the din of the celebrations going on in the Great Hall.

'Mine says the same thing!' Lowenna cried, shoving her letter at Elend,

'M-mine too...' Mortimer added, tears filling his eyes,

'Crimes? What crimes?' Laurie asked, looking from one friend to the other in desperation,

'Laurie, all of our parents were Death Eaters... and by the looks of it... they've been caught.' Lowenna looked along the Slytherin table at the many upset and worried-looking students, 'A lot of Death Eaters have been...' she trailed off, tears running down her face at the thought of never being able to see her parents again. Laurie exhaled, feeling faint; she could have been in the same situation had her parents not been killed. Did that mean Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange had been caught as well?

'I'm so sorry, this is awful news.' Laurie looked around at her friends, Mortimer seemed to be the most in touch with his emotions as he was sobbing onto Lowenna's shoulder, much to the displeasure of Lowenna.

She struggled to know what to say, so she reached across the table and squeezed Lowenna's hand, and with her other hand she held Elend's tightly, resting her head on his shoulder, 'I'll help you all get through this, like you all did with my parents.' she said supportively.

The rest of the day was spent in the Slytherin Common Room, the sombre atmosphere of the room was almost unsettling as it became apparent that many Slytherin students had received the same letter from the Ministry of Magic.

It had taken a while for Lowenna to crack under the pressure, she'd ended up in hysterics and was eventually calmed down by lying her head on Mortimer's lap as he stroked her hair.

Mortimer's eyes were bloodshot from all the crying, but his usual cheerful nature had helped him put on a brave face.

Elend wouldn't let Laurie comfort him; he hated the feeling of appearing weak in front of his House. So, Laurie had left the three to go and hide from the depressive mood in the Library.

The quietness of the Library, the smell of musty, old books and the calming light from the chandeliers and desk candelabras had a soothing effect on Laurie.

The large, long room was practically empty as Laurie took a seat in a secluded corner by a window that looked out onto the school grounds.

It was deserted partly because not many students studied on Sundays, and partly because that particular Sunday had turned into a celebration for the defeat of the Dark Lord Voldemort, or He Who Must Not Be Named as people had started to refer to him as now.

Laurie breathed a sigh of relief as she continued studying from her Transfiguration textbook. She couldn't help but feel relieved with who had won the Great Wizarding War; she knew that she would have been safe if the Dark Lord had been victorious, due to her ancient pureblood lineage.

However, despite her parents drumming into her the importance of keeping the blood-line pure when it came to her marrying someone, she still felt apathetic about her blood status.

Laurie felt that muggle-born and half-blood witches and wizards carried as much merit as pureblood witches and wizards, and in many cases carried more.

She also felt that the methods her family had used in the past to keep the bloodline pure, such as marrying cousins, forced and arranged marriages and excommunicating members who refused to go forward with arranged marriages, was a barbaric and primitive practice. Her values were definitely what set her apart from her parents, and some days she loathed being a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

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