She is a tiny baby. At first, the images are slightly blurred at best, but they are poignant nonetheless. Her life began in love, he is so very relieved to find. She is laying in something puffy, something warm and very soft, laughing. It is a very sweet sound to him. Her little hands wave above her, as if she's trying to catch something, or touch something just outside of her vision.
Someone is playing with her.
Snape looks at her, his precious love, and thinks she is still just as perfect as she was then. A slender-fingered hand comes briefly into view; it caresses her face, then is gone. Slender-fingered, yet definitely masculine. Snape noted the thick-banded rings, but had not the time to note the decorations on them. Suddenly, Snape sees the source of baby Ellie's great joy.
A dog.
Snape's heart nearly stops. Curly-haired and black...though only a puppy, the only thing he can compare it to is Padfoot. Clearly the puppy adores her; the images sharpen and he sees the puppy snuggling her, then hiding, only to pop up and snuggle her again. The puppy does this a few more times, then disappears again. Ellie's little brows knit and she sounds as though she's going to cry, but up pops her playmate, which to Snape's surprise is now a boy. He looks to be about six years of age, and while his hair and eyes are darker than hers, the relation between them is obvious. Something else is obvious as well as the father leans down to gently pick Ellie up. "Da," the boy protests, "don't take my baby!" Their father laughs softly and tells him, "now, Ome, your sister is hungry. You may have her back when her belly is full."
As their father turns from the play area, he places her at his shoulder, and the boy shifts back to a puppy as he runs to follow them. He is clearly already a skilled animagus, which Snape knows should not be possible. Ellie reaches down to him over their father's shoulder, her tiny hands clenching and unclenching, laughing all the way. When Ellie hears her mother's voice she turns, and Snape has at last a clear image of the faces of her parents. When their mother takes her into her loving arms to nurse, the puppy again becomes the boy and climbs up into the huge chair, leans against their mother and smiles down at his beloved sister. Their father sits on the arm of the chair, and Ellie laughs up at the three of them.
Snape knows at last the truth that has eluded him for so long. They are not entirely human, but rather...Quendi, as Professor Tolkien called them.
Elves.
Which explains why Ellie was taught to read with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. She wasn't just being taught to read, she was being taught their history. But Therion suspected this, as did Malfoy. Snape believes Sirius must have as well. Why didn't he? Because he was far too focused on keeping her secret and safe, while taking care of all of his other responsibilities. He knew she was special...but this he never imagined.
The flow of memory speeds up and when it slows again, Ellie is three years old. She is speaking, and her brother's nickname seems to be her favorite word. The boy, named Elomer, dotes on her. He is the one who is her Magical guide, as well as her constant companion. Their parents home-school Elomer, and so Ellie herself is already learning, and Snape can not understand why it seems she can now do little more than cast simple water and binding spells. He watches Ellie and Elomer playing and learning as they age through the progression of memories, and Snape sees Ellie, at age five, cast something he thinks quite similar to a Patronus. Their father calls them 'baby lights' and proudly encourages her; tiny, wispy little birds that make her brother laugh. In his dog form, he tries to catch them, but they spark out before he can.
Through the flow of their lives in memory Snape sees the resemblance between Elomer and Sirius become stronger over time, but to his surprise it does not actually bother him. The house is huge and beautiful, and there are horses everywhere; horses in the fields the house sits on, and horses represented in art and sculpture throughout the house, even a banner depicting a horse flies from the pole outside the front gate. He sees also birds, especially ravens and peacocks, both living and sculptural, and he begins to feel an emotional connection with Ellie's family. To have known such love...
There is a day, Snape thinks she must still be five, when a huge bird comes to the house, bearing a message. Their mother is overjoyed, but their father...is not. "I do not want our children there, Athlene. They are too young." Snape moves closer to the dining area, so that he is peeking in just as Ellie and her brother are. On the table is something Snape is quite familiar with. "But Elwine, to rob our son of this opportunity--" their father shakes his head vehemently. "No. Athlene, the Shadow has returned, just as Incánus knew it would! What do you think Gorthaur would do if he knew of us? What do you think he would do to our children? We must not expose ourselves to him!" Their mother sadly folds Elomer's letter back up, slips it back into its envelope, and tucks it away. "But Dumbledore's magic is strong, Elwine, he is the greatest wizard of this Age. Ome would be safe at Hogwarts."
Snape notices the calendar as Athlene hides the letter and suddenly feels very sick. It is July of 1972. The realization that Ellie's parents were discussing Tom Riddle, for surely the name 'Gorthaur' could only refer to him, and that he very easily could have met Ellie's brother nearly sends him reeling. As Elwine issues his final word on the matter, Ellie cries, and Elomer wraps her in his arms and carries her away. Snape follows them outside to where the horses are. "Why is Da so mad at Ma?" she asks as her brother gently wipes her tears away, and sighing, he tells her not to worry. "Da's not mad at Ma, he's just unhappy about something in another place." Elomer kisses her cheek and strokes her hair. "Let's go play," he says, then shifts to his dog form as she runs away laughing.
Suddenly, she is six. Her brithday cake is small but beautiful, and her party consists of just her parents, her brother, a very, very old wolf, and another Elf lady Snape realizes is Ellie's aunt, Atheme. The old wolf does not leave the fireside rug, but does not take his eyes from Ellie and Elomer. Snape wonders if he is another animagus. Atheme has spread out sprigs of rosemary, thyme, valerian and calendula on the cloth of another table. She walks over to the old wolf and gently pulls out two thin handfulls of shed fur, thanks him, then walks back and adds the fur to the sprigs. "I understand your new neighbors are Muggles," she says as one of the two preening ravens gives her a loose feather from his wing. She adds his feather to the sprigs and fur, then takes off one of her necklaces. Elwine says that they are indeed Muggles, and Atheme asks if they have met them yet.
Athlene tells her sister that they have not had the chance yet, and Atheme says, "good," as she breaks the necklace and shakes out a few bone and stone beads onto the cloth. She ties the cords of the necklace tightly, kisses it, then slips it over Ellie's head, which makes the little one terribly happy. Atheme then removes a vial of a sweet-smelling oil from her gown and sprinkles some onto her creation as she whispers a blessing upon it, caps the vial, and returns it to her gown. She looks up at the two ravens and says something to them in a language Snape does not recognize, but finds it sounds similar to Sindarin. The ravens fly from the house, and Elomer lifts Ellie up so she can see better. After several minutes, the ravens return with horse hair and a cord; they give these things to Atheme and Ellie watches carefully everything her aunt does.
The horse hair is added to the assortment, then carefully Atheme gathers the tablecloth up around the blessed assortment. She ties the cord around the twisted part of the cloth, then hands it to Elwine. "Give this to them tonight, one hour after dusk has fallen. They're Danes, and if I'm right they'll understand. Don't be surprised if there are fresh eggs on the porch in the morning." Elwine places the bundle into a lovely basket, then after a moment, he places a loaf of freshly baked bread in the basket with it. Atheme stretches and kisses little Ellie's cheek, and they settle down for cake. After cake she opens her gifts, and Snape actually sits down on the floor with her and Elomer. There's a lovely dress, pretty things for her hair, and the finest woodcarving of a horse he's ever seen, and it's no surprise to him that it is the horse that she loves the best.
Snape listens as the adults talk, but again, does not recognize the language. He's still thinking about the almost lyrical tongue when the memory scene changes, and it's dawn of the following day. Ellie and Ome have snuck out of their beds and are peeking out of the front door. There's not just a basket of eggs on the porch, but bottles of what could be fresh cream as well, and...movement in the shrubbery on the other side of the gateway. Someone peeking back at them...Snape's breath catches in his throat and Ellie is running down the hall to their parents' room. "Ma! Da! There's a pretty boy outside!" she yells excitedly, "there's a pretty boy outside!" The scene changes much to Snape's disappointment, but once it is fixed again, his disappointment vanishes.
A few days have passed by the look of it, and Ellie and her family are all outside. Their parents are talking to the Muggle neighbors and it is clear that Atheme's gift was very well recieved. Snape notices that Ellie's parents have made no effort to conceal what they are, and that the Muggles are...he doesn't know what to think. They are humble and soft-spoken, and seem very warm and welcoming. The man, Harbard, and Elwine talk of horses and the benefits of having the ravens and crows around, while the woman, Maren, and Athlene talk of old folk remedies and the similarity to those used in Wizarding healing. There is much laughter and Elomer pays great attention to the conversation, but Ellie seems distracted.
Snape sees why...the 'pretty boy' peeks out from behind the shrubbery at her, and she jumps up excitedly. She nearly darts forward but the boy disappears, and she actually stomps her foot in frustration. "I want to talk to him!" she frowns, and Harbard laughs softly. "That is Micha, our son. He is...very shy." Athlene tells Ome to take Ellie inside, which he does immediately. As they walk to the playroom hand in hand, Ellie asks Ome why the boy doesn't want to talk to her. They sit down on the floor of the playroom and he says, "maybe he is sick, and doesn't want to get you sick too." Ellie picks up a ball of yarn and rolls it to the old raven watching them. "Ma can make him better," she says, and Ome laughs. "Maybe it's because he just doesn't know us." The old raven pushes the ball of yarn back to her, and as Ellie carefully gathers the raven up and holds her like a baby, which the raven doesn't seem to mind, she says softly, "I won't hurt him."
Ome smiles softly and leans toward Ellie, gently strokes the raven's belly feathers, then tells his sister, "you are very sweet, Ellie. I think when the time is right, you will meet him. Just give him time." Time...the scene shifts and Snape thinks it can't be more than a week at most. Ellie and Ome are outside playing with another wolf when they hear raised voices down the road. Boys' voices. It all sounds very unkind, and there are words neither of them have ever heard before, and as Ellie and her brother run toward the voices someone shouts, "just leave me alone!" Ellie and Ome peer carefully from around the stone wall that divides the Wizarding enclave from what looks like open field, and see five Muggle boys clumped around another, smaller boy.
That smaller boy is Micha.
One of the larger boys shoves him and sneers, "what'cha gonna do about it, freak?" Ellie is furious, but not as quick as her brother; before she can pull her hand from his, he has already begun changing. In perhaps a heartbeat, he's in his dog form, rushing forward, barking and growling ferociously. Elomer means business, he will attack if he must, but fortunately the Muggle bullies are sufficiently frightend, and run away. Micha doesn't know what to do until Ellie gently takes his shaking hand. He turns around to face her, then knows exactly what to do, and promptly does it. He blushes, giggles, and hides his face with his other hand. Elomer shifts back and checks Micha all over to make sure he's not injured, then says, "you can come home with us."
The boy appears to be maybe two years older than Ellie, and clearly suffers from albinism. His eyes are almost pale violet in color, his hair, snow white; his skin is pale and sensitive, and his blushing turns his face quite pink. He grips Ellie's hand as though he will never let go, and as Ellie looks back up at him, he blushes again. Elomer ushers them back to the house, his hand resting protectively on Micha's shoulder. Micha's mother is there at the door, crying because her son is never gone this long and she can not find him. "I'm alright Mama," Micha says softly, "they saved me!" Maren turns to see her son and covers her face for a moment. She laughs with great relief and Athlene gives her a reassuring hug. The look on Elwine's face is one of absolute pride.
And thus begings the second most special relationship in Ellie's life.
Snape watches as the flow of memory speeds up; several days pass, then a week, then slows again to the day Elomer takes it upon himself to teach Micha self-defense. Micha has come to their house with a blacked eye, and everyone is outraged. While on his way home from Muggle school, the older Muggle boys caught up with him, and when he tried to run away, they beat him. He's already had his first lesson by the time Atheme comes by for a visit that night, and the witch is so angry that she goes over to Micha's house with a dozen apples. She comes back little more than an hour later, with an armful of fresh rolls and a half-smile on her stern face. "We have the Rasmussen's permission to teach Micha all that we can. I'll see Erasmus tomorrow about some kind of intervention." Ellie doesn't understand what that means, but she thinks her friend will be able to be with them more.
"Intervention, Atheme?" Ellie's aunt faces her father. "Yes, Elwine, the boy has special needs, and his needs aren't being met at that awful Muggle school. He's better off here with us, with people who actually care about him." Ellie's father does not seem too thrilled with the idea at first, until Athlene says, "well, why not. We home-school Elomer and Elsbet, so I do not mind at all teaching Micha. He is a delightful child, and is already reading Professor Tolkien's work." It is settled then, and Snape watches through the flow of memories Elomer teaching Micha the martial art Jeet Kune Do, and Ellie learns right along with him. He watches as Micha goes through his daily lessons, and watches as Atheme teaches him about the nature of magic.
Snape watches as three years pass, and the two families grow closer together. He watches as Micha grows and develops into a fine young horseman. He watches as the relationship between Ellie and Micha blossoms into love. Atheme and Elomer have worked hard to teach Micha everything they can so that the boy can defend himself, and it has paid off, but in a way that no-one could have expected. It is a fine, sunny day, a day that falls between Micha's and Ellie's birthdays. Micha has just turned eleven, Ellie will be nine. The three children are in Elomer's room, and Elomer, now fifteen years old, has become an impressive young Elf wizard. He is also a near dead-ringer for Sirius at that age, but he is far kinder than Snape recalls Sirius ever being.
But then, Elomer's family is by far better than anything Sirius could ever have had.
This day, Micha is telling his best friends that he made something in his room move just by thinking about it. "Well," Elomer says matter-of-factly, "haven't I always told you it's the Will and the Word?" Micha nods and Ellie asks him if he can move the sculpture of the peacock on the nightstand. Micha breathes deeply as he focuses on the peacock. Slowly, he raises his hand. Ellie watches his face, watches the concentration on it, watches his lips move, then looks at the peacock. He moves it alright...right off of the nightstand. Ellie jumps up and runs out of the room, down the hallway to the room where their mother dries her herbs. "Ma, you have to see this! You have to see what Micha can do!" She grabs her mother's hand and pulls her back down the hall to Elomer's room.
Elomer has returned the peacock to its place, and as sister, mother and finally father gather into the room, Micha does it again. "Well," Atheme says from behind Elwine and Athlene, "I'll inform Erasmus." Elwine watches her as she heads to the front door. "Inform him of what?" Atheme smiles down at Ellie and replies, "that I was right about that boy," as she leaves the house. That night, there is celebration in the Rasmussen house, and Harbard tells Elwine, "he has been working so hard, and we are so very proud of him," Maren brings them out coffee and tells them that she and Harbard are so grateful for everything everyone has done for their son. Atheme arrives with Erasmus, who for all the world looks to Snape like a grey and wizened Rufus Scrimgeour.
Snape notes the elder wizard's sour expression, and has the feeling that Erasmus does not believe the boy can do anything. "Is this the item?" he asks and Atheme tells him yes. He nods but says nothing. The elder wizard walks around the humble living room, as if checking for any signs of deception. Not finding any, he sits down in the rocking chair. He barely takes any notice of Micha, which Snape finds quite rude. Atheme tells the boy to proceed, and he does exactly as he did earlier in the day. Erasmus sits forward. "Can you raise it, boy?" Micha fails on his first attempt, but succeeds on his second, and returns it to the table, just an inch or two from its original position. Erasmus stares for a second at it, then finally looks at Micah. He motions for Micha to come and stand in front of him. "Push me, boy, can you push me?"
Micha nods just once. He takes a different stance this time and breathes deeply. He focuses himself, braces his shoulders, and exhales. He closes his eyes slowly, and Erasmus gasps softly. He sits up, nods almost imperceptably, then to Snape's relief, pats Micha on the shoulder. He rises quickly without a word to anyone but Atheme as he goes out the door, and it is a word Ellie has never heard before. "True Telekinesis." Atheme turns and looks at everyone, her eyes glistening. "You just do not know how proud I am," she says.
Snape watches days pass, days full of excitement and a flurry of activity that end with a momentous event...
Someone is playing with her.
Snape looks at her, his precious love, and thinks she is still just as perfect as she was then. A slender-fingered hand comes briefly into view; it caresses her face, then is gone. Slender-fingered, yet definitely masculine. Snape noted the thick-banded rings, but had not the time to note the decorations on them. Suddenly, Snape sees the source of baby Ellie's great joy.
A dog.
Snape's heart nearly stops. Curly-haired and black...though only a puppy, the only thing he can compare it to is Padfoot. Clearly the puppy adores her; the images sharpen and he sees the puppy snuggling her, then hiding, only to pop up and snuggle her again. The puppy does this a few more times, then disappears again. Ellie's little brows knit and she sounds as though she's going to cry, but up pops her playmate, which to Snape's surprise is now a boy. He looks to be about six years of age, and while his hair and eyes are darker than hers, the relation between them is obvious. Something else is obvious as well as the father leans down to gently pick Ellie up. "Da," the boy protests, "don't take my baby!" Their father laughs softly and tells him, "now, Ome, your sister is hungry. You may have her back when her belly is full."
As their father turns from the play area, he places her at his shoulder, and the boy shifts back to a puppy as he runs to follow them. He is clearly already a skilled animagus, which Snape knows should not be possible. Ellie reaches down to him over their father's shoulder, her tiny hands clenching and unclenching, laughing all the way. When Ellie hears her mother's voice she turns, and Snape has at last a clear image of the faces of her parents. When their mother takes her into her loving arms to nurse, the puppy again becomes the boy and climbs up into the huge chair, leans against their mother and smiles down at his beloved sister. Their father sits on the arm of the chair, and Ellie laughs up at the three of them.
Snape knows at last the truth that has eluded him for so long. They are not entirely human, but rather...Quendi, as Professor Tolkien called them.
Elves.
Which explains why Ellie was taught to read with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. She wasn't just being taught to read, she was being taught their history. But Therion suspected this, as did Malfoy. Snape believes Sirius must have as well. Why didn't he? Because he was far too focused on keeping her secret and safe, while taking care of all of his other responsibilities. He knew she was special...but this he never imagined.
The flow of memory speeds up and when it slows again, Ellie is three years old. She is speaking, and her brother's nickname seems to be her favorite word. The boy, named Elomer, dotes on her. He is the one who is her Magical guide, as well as her constant companion. Their parents home-school Elomer, and so Ellie herself is already learning, and Snape can not understand why it seems she can now do little more than cast simple water and binding spells. He watches Ellie and Elomer playing and learning as they age through the progression of memories, and Snape sees Ellie, at age five, cast something he thinks quite similar to a Patronus. Their father calls them 'baby lights' and proudly encourages her; tiny, wispy little birds that make her brother laugh. In his dog form, he tries to catch them, but they spark out before he can.
Through the flow of their lives in memory Snape sees the resemblance between Elomer and Sirius become stronger over time, but to his surprise it does not actually bother him. The house is huge and beautiful, and there are horses everywhere; horses in the fields the house sits on, and horses represented in art and sculpture throughout the house, even a banner depicting a horse flies from the pole outside the front gate. He sees also birds, especially ravens and peacocks, both living and sculptural, and he begins to feel an emotional connection with Ellie's family. To have known such love...
There is a day, Snape thinks she must still be five, when a huge bird comes to the house, bearing a message. Their mother is overjoyed, but their father...is not. "I do not want our children there, Athlene. They are too young." Snape moves closer to the dining area, so that he is peeking in just as Ellie and her brother are. On the table is something Snape is quite familiar with. "But Elwine, to rob our son of this opportunity--" their father shakes his head vehemently. "No. Athlene, the Shadow has returned, just as Incánus knew it would! What do you think Gorthaur would do if he knew of us? What do you think he would do to our children? We must not expose ourselves to him!" Their mother sadly folds Elomer's letter back up, slips it back into its envelope, and tucks it away. "But Dumbledore's magic is strong, Elwine, he is the greatest wizard of this Age. Ome would be safe at Hogwarts."
Snape notices the calendar as Athlene hides the letter and suddenly feels very sick. It is July of 1972. The realization that Ellie's parents were discussing Tom Riddle, for surely the name 'Gorthaur' could only refer to him, and that he very easily could have met Ellie's brother nearly sends him reeling. As Elwine issues his final word on the matter, Ellie cries, and Elomer wraps her in his arms and carries her away. Snape follows them outside to where the horses are. "Why is Da so mad at Ma?" she asks as her brother gently wipes her tears away, and sighing, he tells her not to worry. "Da's not mad at Ma, he's just unhappy about something in another place." Elomer kisses her cheek and strokes her hair. "Let's go play," he says, then shifts to his dog form as she runs away laughing.
Suddenly, she is six. Her brithday cake is small but beautiful, and her party consists of just her parents, her brother, a very, very old wolf, and another Elf lady Snape realizes is Ellie's aunt, Atheme. The old wolf does not leave the fireside rug, but does not take his eyes from Ellie and Elomer. Snape wonders if he is another animagus. Atheme has spread out sprigs of rosemary, thyme, valerian and calendula on the cloth of another table. She walks over to the old wolf and gently pulls out two thin handfulls of shed fur, thanks him, then walks back and adds the fur to the sprigs. "I understand your new neighbors are Muggles," she says as one of the two preening ravens gives her a loose feather from his wing. She adds his feather to the sprigs and fur, then takes off one of her necklaces. Elwine says that they are indeed Muggles, and Atheme asks if they have met them yet.
Athlene tells her sister that they have not had the chance yet, and Atheme says, "good," as she breaks the necklace and shakes out a few bone and stone beads onto the cloth. She ties the cords of the necklace tightly, kisses it, then slips it over Ellie's head, which makes the little one terribly happy. Atheme then removes a vial of a sweet-smelling oil from her gown and sprinkles some onto her creation as she whispers a blessing upon it, caps the vial, and returns it to her gown. She looks up at the two ravens and says something to them in a language Snape does not recognize, but finds it sounds similar to Sindarin. The ravens fly from the house, and Elomer lifts Ellie up so she can see better. After several minutes, the ravens return with horse hair and a cord; they give these things to Atheme and Ellie watches carefully everything her aunt does.
The horse hair is added to the assortment, then carefully Atheme gathers the tablecloth up around the blessed assortment. She ties the cord around the twisted part of the cloth, then hands it to Elwine. "Give this to them tonight, one hour after dusk has fallen. They're Danes, and if I'm right they'll understand. Don't be surprised if there are fresh eggs on the porch in the morning." Elwine places the bundle into a lovely basket, then after a moment, he places a loaf of freshly baked bread in the basket with it. Atheme stretches and kisses little Ellie's cheek, and they settle down for cake. After cake she opens her gifts, and Snape actually sits down on the floor with her and Elomer. There's a lovely dress, pretty things for her hair, and the finest woodcarving of a horse he's ever seen, and it's no surprise to him that it is the horse that she loves the best.
Snape listens as the adults talk, but again, does not recognize the language. He's still thinking about the almost lyrical tongue when the memory scene changes, and it's dawn of the following day. Ellie and Ome have snuck out of their beds and are peeking out of the front door. There's not just a basket of eggs on the porch, but bottles of what could be fresh cream as well, and...movement in the shrubbery on the other side of the gateway. Someone peeking back at them...Snape's breath catches in his throat and Ellie is running down the hall to their parents' room. "Ma! Da! There's a pretty boy outside!" she yells excitedly, "there's a pretty boy outside!" The scene changes much to Snape's disappointment, but once it is fixed again, his disappointment vanishes.
A few days have passed by the look of it, and Ellie and her family are all outside. Their parents are talking to the Muggle neighbors and it is clear that Atheme's gift was very well recieved. Snape notices that Ellie's parents have made no effort to conceal what they are, and that the Muggles are...he doesn't know what to think. They are humble and soft-spoken, and seem very warm and welcoming. The man, Harbard, and Elwine talk of horses and the benefits of having the ravens and crows around, while the woman, Maren, and Athlene talk of old folk remedies and the similarity to those used in Wizarding healing. There is much laughter and Elomer pays great attention to the conversation, but Ellie seems distracted.
Snape sees why...the 'pretty boy' peeks out from behind the shrubbery at her, and she jumps up excitedly. She nearly darts forward but the boy disappears, and she actually stomps her foot in frustration. "I want to talk to him!" she frowns, and Harbard laughs softly. "That is Micha, our son. He is...very shy." Athlene tells Ome to take Ellie inside, which he does immediately. As they walk to the playroom hand in hand, Ellie asks Ome why the boy doesn't want to talk to her. They sit down on the floor of the playroom and he says, "maybe he is sick, and doesn't want to get you sick too." Ellie picks up a ball of yarn and rolls it to the old raven watching them. "Ma can make him better," she says, and Ome laughs. "Maybe it's because he just doesn't know us." The old raven pushes the ball of yarn back to her, and as Ellie carefully gathers the raven up and holds her like a baby, which the raven doesn't seem to mind, she says softly, "I won't hurt him."
Ome smiles softly and leans toward Ellie, gently strokes the raven's belly feathers, then tells his sister, "you are very sweet, Ellie. I think when the time is right, you will meet him. Just give him time." Time...the scene shifts and Snape thinks it can't be more than a week at most. Ellie and Ome are outside playing with another wolf when they hear raised voices down the road. Boys' voices. It all sounds very unkind, and there are words neither of them have ever heard before, and as Ellie and her brother run toward the voices someone shouts, "just leave me alone!" Ellie and Ome peer carefully from around the stone wall that divides the Wizarding enclave from what looks like open field, and see five Muggle boys clumped around another, smaller boy.
That smaller boy is Micha.
One of the larger boys shoves him and sneers, "what'cha gonna do about it, freak?" Ellie is furious, but not as quick as her brother; before she can pull her hand from his, he has already begun changing. In perhaps a heartbeat, he's in his dog form, rushing forward, barking and growling ferociously. Elomer means business, he will attack if he must, but fortunately the Muggle bullies are sufficiently frightend, and run away. Micha doesn't know what to do until Ellie gently takes his shaking hand. He turns around to face her, then knows exactly what to do, and promptly does it. He blushes, giggles, and hides his face with his other hand. Elomer shifts back and checks Micha all over to make sure he's not injured, then says, "you can come home with us."
The boy appears to be maybe two years older than Ellie, and clearly suffers from albinism. His eyes are almost pale violet in color, his hair, snow white; his skin is pale and sensitive, and his blushing turns his face quite pink. He grips Ellie's hand as though he will never let go, and as Ellie looks back up at him, he blushes again. Elomer ushers them back to the house, his hand resting protectively on Micha's shoulder. Micha's mother is there at the door, crying because her son is never gone this long and she can not find him. "I'm alright Mama," Micha says softly, "they saved me!" Maren turns to see her son and covers her face for a moment. She laughs with great relief and Athlene gives her a reassuring hug. The look on Elwine's face is one of absolute pride.
And thus begings the second most special relationship in Ellie's life.
Snape watches as the flow of memory speeds up; several days pass, then a week, then slows again to the day Elomer takes it upon himself to teach Micha self-defense. Micha has come to their house with a blacked eye, and everyone is outraged. While on his way home from Muggle school, the older Muggle boys caught up with him, and when he tried to run away, they beat him. He's already had his first lesson by the time Atheme comes by for a visit that night, and the witch is so angry that she goes over to Micha's house with a dozen apples. She comes back little more than an hour later, with an armful of fresh rolls and a half-smile on her stern face. "We have the Rasmussen's permission to teach Micha all that we can. I'll see Erasmus tomorrow about some kind of intervention." Ellie doesn't understand what that means, but she thinks her friend will be able to be with them more.
"Intervention, Atheme?" Ellie's aunt faces her father. "Yes, Elwine, the boy has special needs, and his needs aren't being met at that awful Muggle school. He's better off here with us, with people who actually care about him." Ellie's father does not seem too thrilled with the idea at first, until Athlene says, "well, why not. We home-school Elomer and Elsbet, so I do not mind at all teaching Micha. He is a delightful child, and is already reading Professor Tolkien's work." It is settled then, and Snape watches through the flow of memories Elomer teaching Micha the martial art Jeet Kune Do, and Ellie learns right along with him. He watches as Micha goes through his daily lessons, and watches as Atheme teaches him about the nature of magic.
Snape watches as three years pass, and the two families grow closer together. He watches as Micha grows and develops into a fine young horseman. He watches as the relationship between Ellie and Micha blossoms into love. Atheme and Elomer have worked hard to teach Micha everything they can so that the boy can defend himself, and it has paid off, but in a way that no-one could have expected. It is a fine, sunny day, a day that falls between Micha's and Ellie's birthdays. Micha has just turned eleven, Ellie will be nine. The three children are in Elomer's room, and Elomer, now fifteen years old, has become an impressive young Elf wizard. He is also a near dead-ringer for Sirius at that age, but he is far kinder than Snape recalls Sirius ever being.
But then, Elomer's family is by far better than anything Sirius could ever have had.
This day, Micha is telling his best friends that he made something in his room move just by thinking about it. "Well," Elomer says matter-of-factly, "haven't I always told you it's the Will and the Word?" Micha nods and Ellie asks him if he can move the sculpture of the peacock on the nightstand. Micha breathes deeply as he focuses on the peacock. Slowly, he raises his hand. Ellie watches his face, watches the concentration on it, watches his lips move, then looks at the peacock. He moves it alright...right off of the nightstand. Ellie jumps up and runs out of the room, down the hallway to the room where their mother dries her herbs. "Ma, you have to see this! You have to see what Micha can do!" She grabs her mother's hand and pulls her back down the hall to Elomer's room.
Elomer has returned the peacock to its place, and as sister, mother and finally father gather into the room, Micha does it again. "Well," Atheme says from behind Elwine and Athlene, "I'll inform Erasmus." Elwine watches her as she heads to the front door. "Inform him of what?" Atheme smiles down at Ellie and replies, "that I was right about that boy," as she leaves the house. That night, there is celebration in the Rasmussen house, and Harbard tells Elwine, "he has been working so hard, and we are so very proud of him," Maren brings them out coffee and tells them that she and Harbard are so grateful for everything everyone has done for their son. Atheme arrives with Erasmus, who for all the world looks to Snape like a grey and wizened Rufus Scrimgeour.
Snape notes the elder wizard's sour expression, and has the feeling that Erasmus does not believe the boy can do anything. "Is this the item?" he asks and Atheme tells him yes. He nods but says nothing. The elder wizard walks around the humble living room, as if checking for any signs of deception. Not finding any, he sits down in the rocking chair. He barely takes any notice of Micha, which Snape finds quite rude. Atheme tells the boy to proceed, and he does exactly as he did earlier in the day. Erasmus sits forward. "Can you raise it, boy?" Micha fails on his first attempt, but succeeds on his second, and returns it to the table, just an inch or two from its original position. Erasmus stares for a second at it, then finally looks at Micah. He motions for Micha to come and stand in front of him. "Push me, boy, can you push me?"
Micha nods just once. He takes a different stance this time and breathes deeply. He focuses himself, braces his shoulders, and exhales. He closes his eyes slowly, and Erasmus gasps softly. He sits up, nods almost imperceptably, then to Snape's relief, pats Micha on the shoulder. He rises quickly without a word to anyone but Atheme as he goes out the door, and it is a word Ellie has never heard before. "True Telekinesis." Atheme turns and looks at everyone, her eyes glistening. "You just do not know how proud I am," she says.
Snape watches days pass, days full of excitement and a flurry of activity that end with a momentous event...
