I Fear Your Name Will Haunt Me Forever

When we entered the grounds Ellie once again saw the building that had been her home for many years.

"It is a beautiful sight isn't it?" Marie asked Ellie while she was looking out of the window of the carriage. The darkness only seemed to highlight to beauty of Hogwarts Castle.

"Yes it is." Ellie sighed wistfully. "I have seen the castle many times, but this is the first time at night and the sight will probably never cease to amaze me." a small smile was on Ellie's face. The smile seemed to get Marie's attention though.

"What are you thinking about?" Marie wondered out loud she noticed that the twins were confused about how Ellie had seen the castle before but said nothing about it. Ellie was startled out of her thoughts by Marie's question.

"Nothing important. Do you mind if I sit with you at the feast?" they all had confused looks on their faces and Ellie didn't blame them.

"Aren't you getting sorted?" Marie asked Ellie the confusion had increased tenfold and this was reflected in her face. Ellie just shook her head hoping that the three others in the carriage would drop the subject.

When they entered the Great Hall Ellie took a seat at the Gryffindor table, Marie sat next to her and Fred and George opposite them. After the sorting which apparently seemed to take forever every year the feast was started and everybody started to eat. It was at this point that Ellie realised just how hungry she was.

"Hey Marie, Did you have a nice holiday?" Ellie heard a male ask, he had a very strong Scottish accent.

"Yes I did thanks, how was yours?" Marie replied as polite as she was on the train.

"It was good." Was the reply then a silence fell over the group again. This time the twins difused the situation rather than making it more awkward.

"Wood, this is Ellie." They said in unison. Ellie looked up to meet the eyes of the person the twins were introducing her to. When she looked into his eyes she couldn't help but stare. Wood as the twins called him was well built, and burly, his eyes, a chocolate brown made Ellie want to drown herself in them. He also had a commanding presence, which was difficult to explain.

"Nice to meet you Ellie, How are you?" he asked his voice would have made her knees weak had she been standing. "And how come we haven't met before?" he asked a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, because of his accent Ellie couldn't help the small shiver that ran up her spine. If she was honest one of her many weaknesses included cute men with an accent. When she replied she spoke confidently not betraying her previous thoughts.

"I am good thank you, if a little tired" at this point she sent a glare at the Teachers table. This confused all those sitting around her but then she continued talking, deliberately ignoring the curious looks. "I have just started my schooling here." Ellie explained quickly, she smiled and then turned to Marie. "I am going to bed, See you in the morning. Night guys" Ellie said , she stood up from the table drawing the attention of almost everyone in the room, and most people gave her funny looks as desert hadn't even been served yet. Ellie looked at the teachers table and made eye contact with the members of the staff which she considered her family. Dumbledore was the best Grandfather in the world despite the argument they had taken part in the day before. Sev was like a big brother to Ellie, and Minerva who was like a mother who has her crazy moments despite her well put together appearance. She saluted the table and headed out of the Great Hall and went to bed. Ellie heard the murmurs that she had created. She wasn't in her opinion meant to fit in at Hogwarts so in her opinion it didn't matter what people thought of her as long as everyone was civil Ellie didn't care.

The next day Ellie awoke to her Grandfather gently shaking her. "Ellie, it's time for you to get up" Ellie rolled over to the other side of her bed to try and get away from her insistent Grandfather. She rolled so far that she fell off the bed which effectively woke her up as her Grandfather was attempting to do. This made Ellie and Albus start giggling, after all laughter is the best medicine.

"What should I wear?" Ellie asked suddenly slightly nervous. "It isn't like I have a uniform." The nerves she was feeling came through in her voice and her Grandfather found this amusing.

"Whatever you feel most comfortable in I suppose." Was his reply it didn't really matter what she wore she would still stand out. "Now you have to go down for breakfast in a few minutes or you will be late. I will see you there." With those parting words he left, Ellie was feeling slightly more confidant once again. After all she already had a few friends.

Ten minutes late found Ellie running down to breakfast knowing there would probably be a larger selection now than there was while everyone else was away on holiday. Her baggy jeans had holes in the knees from falling off her skateboard which is a hazard of the hobby, they were also torn at the knees as she is only five foot three, and therefore in her opinion is vertically challenged. Her t-shirt was a dark blue with white writing across the chest saying 'Arrest Me! I'm a skateboarder' to keep the morning chill off her shoulders she was also wearing a black and red checked jacket. When she got to the Great Hall she sat down once again at the Gryffindor table as they had made her feel welcome so far. She found some pancakes in the middle of the table and gave a sigh of relief as there was finally other things to eat at breakfast. Just as she started eating she heard a familiar voice ask.

"Miss Strong?" Minerva was trying to locate her for whatever reason.

"Yo!" Ellie shouted with a cheeky smile on her face, her eyes were twinkling with the amused glint that she shared with her Grandfather. Once Minerva had made her way over to Ellie she started speaking to her once more.

"I am surprised that Albus managed to get you up." Minerva said with a smile. Ellie proceeded to inform her of the giggle fit they had taken part in together that morning with a cheery smile on her face. The story made Minerva roll her eyes but she chuckled nevertheless. Minerva chuckling got the attention of the majority of her house, she was a stern but fair woman and due to this was to be found smiling was rare. Ellie looked down the table and saw Marie and Wood sharing an intrigued look. Ellie sighed knowing she was going to get a lot of those looks this year. Marie moved so she could sit next to Ellie and converse with her some more. They got on very well and seemed to have a lot in common. Once Marie had made her way over to Ellie she overheard the rest of the conversation.

"What else did you want, or did you just come over to say hello to me?" Ellie asked quietly hoping that Marie didn't overhear, she didn't want to be treated differently by Marie, she enjoyed her company too much.

"Well I am giving out the timetables for my house, and as you are sitting here you, and I was wondering why you are not taking potions." Minerva asked Ellie, Ellie hadn't told anybody except her Grandfather about her NEWT knowing that everybody else would have made a big deal out of it. Minerva actually sounded disappointed as to why Ellie wasn't taking Potions this year, which confused Ellie as Minerva was always trying to get her to do Transfiguration during the summer instead.

"Unfortunately I will not have the pleasure for Sev teaching me because I already have a NEWT in his subject" Marie had clearly over heard this as her mouth was hanging open as though she was trying to catch flies. Ellie looked towards Marie worriedly and gave her a nervous smile, Ellie didn't know which part had shocked Marie most calling Snape, Sev or saying that it would be a pleasure having him teach her. "I was thinking about taking Care of Magical Creatures, but I wasn't too happy with that, I already have enough experience to get a job in that area if I decided to go down that route. What do you think?" Ellie asked for Minerva's opinion but didn't get a response. Ellie then decided that she wasn't going to take Care of Magical Creatures and informed Minerva of this. Minerva in turn tapped the parchment in front of her with her wand and was just about to leave when she spoke once again.

"Ellie, Good luck" Minerva stated before she left. As she walked away Marie gave Ellie an analysing look.

"Why is she so nice to you?" Maire asked knowing MacGonagal quite well after having her as her head of house and teacher for five years. "And what do you mean a pleasure having SNAPE teaching you?" Marie continued not waiting for an answer.

"I will probable explain someday soon but not today." Ellie stated, she was speaking in riddles her Grandfather would be proud. Ellie looked up at the teacher's table and her Grandfather made eye contact with her and winked, he seems to have an omnipotent power of some kind.

Ellie looked over her timetable and noticed she always finished early and could have a lie in on Monday and Wednesday if she wanted to as she didn't have lessons until after break. This cheered Ellie up knowing that if she wanted to she didn't have to get up. As it turned out Ellie wasn't the only one who wanted to look at her timetable.

"That is the nicest timetable I have ever seen!" Marie exclaimed there was a hint of wistfulness in her voice. I frowned and made her let me look at hers a few minutes later she had less frees and always had to get up, it made me feel sorry for her somewhat, but then I decided it was her own fault for taking so many subjects. Ellie then decided to look on the bright side.

"At least you have four frees on a Friday." It seemed the bright side didn't work with Marie because she sighed once more.

"I highly doubt I will be able to complete any work during those frees, our Quidditch captain will no dobut use them for practice as long as everyone is free which they usually are, and most likely first thing on a Tuesday and Thursday." Ellie looked at Marie doubting for a few moments not believing that the Quidditch captain would schedule at least three practice's a week. But one look at Marie's depressed face confirmed that it was the truth.

"Well if you start to fall behind in the classes we both have then I don't mind helping out if you need it." Ellie informed her, she wouldn't do the work itself but would cut down the reading she needs to do by summarising what she would need for her essays. The clock town then started to ring so the majority of the hall stood up to go to their first lessons. There were only a few lucky sixth and seventh years who were not going anywhere for a while yet. After Marie left Ellie saw the Weasley Twins and Wood conversing and made her way down the table.

"You don't mind if I join you do you?"Ellie asked hoping that she wasn't interrupting anything important. Each of the three males gave her almost identical looks. Each look said 'you are going to anyway so why are you asking?' which amused Ellie slightly. She sat down and picked something else to eat from the plates in front of her. Fred or George then started asking about what Ellie was doing while working with dragons and why she wasn't in school extra having heard from Charlie about Ellie. Wood looked on confused at the conversation going on around him.

"How do you know so much about Ellie?" he asked but then continued "you only met her yesterday, and even Marie who spend the whole day with her doesn't know that much" Fred and George's eyes immediately went to Wood' s wondering how he knew that Marie didn't know as much about her as the twins did. Wood went slightly red after realising he had admitted talking to Marie about Ellie last night, for whatever reason.

"Wood, this is Ellie, she worked with Charlie last year" Both Fred and George said at once, Ellie wondered for a minute then realised that she had informed Charlie she was going to be attending Hogwarts, and he had most likely notify his family. When they finished a look of dawning came over his face.

"You're the girl who is really good with Dragons, Charlie wrote to me about you." He stated. He had an impressed look on his face. "How are you taking your NEWT's? You have never attended school, and by the way call me Oliver" As Ellie had finished her breakfast and she knew she had to go and pick up her books. Ellie stood up and looked Wood, or Oliver as he now wanted to be called in the eyes. Despite her initial reaction to his presence she didn't know anything about him, he seemed nice enough but then again so do a lot of people.

"That Mr. Wood" Ellie answered, then swiftly changing her statement when she saw the look on his face. "Oliver, is something you will have to discover for yourself." Ellie smiled and started to leave the hall. "I am going to get my books." Ellie stated skipping out of the Great Hall.