No spell can reawaken the dead.

Dumbledore's words played over and over in Eleanor's mind in the passing days since the events of the Third Task. When it came to the topic of Eleanor's knitting and its magical properties, everyone had a theory, but no one had the true answer. Dumbledore's theory made the most sense, Cedric had not been killed and revived, but simply Eleanor's knitting had acted as some form of armour that protected him from the Killing Curse. However, with Eleanor claiming that she did not consciously place any enchantments into her garments, it wasn't a matter of what she was doing, but how she was doing it.

It was a chilling thought that Dumbledore had placed in all of their minds that once word of Cedric's survival made its way to Voldemort, he would want to know the reasoning behind it and eventually, it would all point back to Eleanor. Which was why he had questioned who was aware of the magical properties of Eleanor's clothing. Truthfully, she claimed that there were very few, at the very least, the majority of the ones that did know about it didn't know that the protection extended so far as protecting one from the Killing Curse. She mentioned the twins, Marnie and Cedric, maybe even Lee being aware before her mind travelled back to Artemis.

At the mention of Artemis' name, there seemed to be a flicker in Dumbledore's eyes, perhaps it was worry, but he quickly masked it as a curiosity.

"I haven't really told her much about it," Eleanor admitted, "but she's seen my scarves move and my jumper did slap her at one point."

It all sounded ridiculous when she said it out loud and the faces that everyone made around her didn't make her feel any better about it. But to make matters worse, Fudge was not willing to listen to any mention of Voldemort's return. In fact, he flat out refused to take Dumbledore's word, even though Dumbledore didn't have any reason to lie to him about such a thing. Harry had seen Voldemort with his own eyes and while Cedric hadn't seen Voldemort before being attacked, he could confirm that Wormtail was still alive and was the one who attacked him.

But Fudge only wrote it off that they were all mad, Dumbledore being a downright fool for believing two teenage boys that were "hallucinating due to stressful events" of the tournament. No matter what Harry told him, whether it was telling Fudge that he saw Voldemort's rebirth or naming Death Eaters left and right, it was all brushed off as nonsense. Thank goodness the headmaster decided not to tell Fudge about Eleanor's knitting or Fudge really would have laughed them off.

The only one who probably could have confirmed everything Harry had said was Barty Crouch Jr otherwise known as Imposter Moody and unfortunately, due to Fudge's foolishness had been given the Dementor's Kiss rendering him useless.

There seemed to be so much happening all at once that Eleanor was sure her headache was never going to go away. Her father continued to reassure her that everything was going to be alright, but with Fudge carelessly tossing the winnings of the tournament onto Harry's bed, telling him he could split with Cedric if he pleased, she didn't see things going very well.

Everyone had gathered in the Hospital Wing later on while Eleanor, Harry, and Cedric, along with Moody himself were still in recovery. It was there that Dumbledore started making plans that involved rounding up "old members" as he put it.

Inside the Hospital Wing, Eleanor had noticed Nixie's sudden departure, where she went Eleanor wasn't sure, and Sirius was in his dog form again to disguise himself among the crowd. But once they were all alone, with Madam Pomfrey stepping out, it was time for the big reveal.

"And now," Dumbledore began, "it is time for two of our number to recognise each other for what they are. Sirius ... if you could resume your usual form."

As Sirius took his human form once more, Molly let out a gasp of fright, clearly caught off guard. While Ron attempted to get her to calm down, all Eleanor and Remus could do was look at Snape's reaction. Fury laced the man's features and Sirius looked just as irritated to see him. Remus appeared ready to intervene at any moment if things were to turn ugly and it looked very close to turning.

"Him!" Snape growled. "What is he doing here?"

"He is here at my invitation," Dumbledore said firmly, "as are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other. I will settle, in the short term, for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth stand united, there is no hope for any of us."

Sirius looked physically pained to be told to shake hands with Snape but eventually, the two did so briefly before snatching their hands back. Dumbledore didn't look pleased with their "childish" reactions but there were bigger things to focus on as he turned his attention to Remus next.

"Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. I already set Nixie off to alert Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher- the old crowd. Sirius, I need you to lie low at Lupin's for a while, I will contact you there- "

"Wait, "Eleanor interjected, "wouldn't it be better to be somewhere else? If you want Sirius to lie low, why doesn't he stay at our house?"

"Ellie- "Remus went to interject but she continued talking.

"Well, wouldn't it make more sense?" she asked. "Our house is big enough to accommodate more people and we live on the outskirts of a muggle town. I think that's a good place to lie low."

"It's not a bad idea," Dumbledore replied, "Remus if you would speak with Margaret and see if she would be willing to open her home for a short period of time. I'd only ask for Sirius and Nixie to remain there until the others are in contact and we can set up headquarters elsewhere."

Remus didn't seem at all convinced that Margaret would want to partake in turning her home into a safe house, but it appeared as though he didn't have much of an option. He and Sirius were set to leave, looking at Eleanor to go with him. However, as Eleanor looked over to see the devastated expression on Harry's face as Sirius was leaving, she decided she was going to stay behind until the end of the term.

"I think it's best I stay here for now. Tell Mum I'm alright. I'll see her soon."

It had been almost a week since the events of the Third Task, six days to be exact, but Eleanor had lost track of time. She didn't even remember it was her birthday although she hardly felt like celebrating. She was thankful that Cedric was okay, he had gone home a couple of days prior with his family to continue resting in the comfort of his home. It left Marnie and Eleanor feeling as though a third of themselves was missing.

"Nothing is going to be the same now," Marnie whispered to her one night in the dorms, "is it?"

Eleanor didn't answer at the time, pretending to be asleep but truthfully she knew Marnie was right. Voldemort was back, a dark wizard who had reigned terror on the wizarding world for decades. Countless lives had been taken and many affected by the horrors that had been unleashed and the way Dumbledore had spoken in the Hospital Wing that evening, it was clear he believed it was going to start all over again.

To her delight, Margaret agreed to open up the Ross home to Nixie and Sirius, allowing them to stay for as long as they needed. But even though Remus had reassured Margaret over and over that Eleanor was physically fine, the mother wanted to see it for herself before believing it. Thankfully, she only had one more day before Eleanor was set to come home and then the real fun would begin.

In the meantime, Eleanor asked Fred to join her by the lake as she had something important to give to him before the Leaving Feast that evening.

"Well, there she is," Fred's voice alerted her as he approached the lake that afternoon, "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."

"Fred," she chuckled, "you saw me yesterday, remember?"

"I know, but we've hardly had a moment to ourselves since the Hospital Wing and I don't think that counts either. I mean, I get it, of course with everything going on. Since Mum left she's been sending letters, Bill got in contact with Dad and Charlie so everyone in the family was caught up to speed with everything. I figured you were going to go home with your father-"

"I thought about it," she said, "but I wanted to be there for Harry and Marnie. I know Harry has your whole family and his friends, but Marnie...I keep trying to convince her to spend the summer at my house. She's still a bit shaken up. "

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

Fred sighed with a shake of his head. "You're so worried about everyone else but what about you, Ellie? How are you feeling? There's been so much going on, did you even remember that it's your birthday today?"

"It is not..." She went to argue until she realised that it was, in fact, her birthday. She looked away shamefully.

"Alright, so it might have slipped my mind. But it's just my birthday- "

"Up until last week, you were looking so forward to your birthday because it meant you could take your Apparition Test. Remember? So, you could travel back and forth for your internship."

Her expression fell before she scolded herself. "My internship, I completely forgot about it. I don't even know if I'll be allowed to go to it. Dumbledore was talking to me about not bringing attention to myself. I don't want that taken away; I'm really looking forward to working with Madam Bones."

"Well, don't count it out just yet, Ellie. At least ask if you're able to go."

"Yeah, you're right, no harm in asking."

"Of course, I'm right," Fred said proudly, "now, I know you invited me here because you enjoy my wonderful company and you enjoy seeing my handsome face. But I feel like you invited me here for another reason."

"That didn't come across as conceited at all," Eleanor snorted, "but yes, you're right, I did ask you to meet me here for a reason. Here."

When Fred didn't place his hands out fast enough, Eleanor proceeded to drop a bag of something into his lap. He was about to tease her about not understanding how birthdays worked because people were supposed to give her gifts on the day, not the other way around. However, as he opened the bag, he found it filled with galleons.

"Ellie, what is this? I- "

"Harry and Cedric split the winnings of the Triwizard Tournament, but Cedric didn't want his half, he didn't want anything to do with the tournament. He left it to Marnie and me, but we don't want it either. I thought about it and figured what better use for it to go to than your inventions. It can't be cheap to experiment and you're going to need plenty of supplies to get Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes going. This should be enough to get a good start."

Fred said nothing for a good two minutes, simply staring at the bag of galleons in his lap. But after a while, he shook his head and attempted to hand the bag back to her.

"Ellie, I can't take this. It's your birthday! You shouldn't be giving us anything! We can't accept this... if this is half of the winnings, that's at the very least five hundred galleons. Think of what this could go towards. You could give it to your father for his Wolfsbane doses- "

"My mother covers his Wolfsbane doses without a problem, we don't need it. Besides, didn't you and George make me somewhat of a partner in this business? This is my contribution. I don't invent any products, so this is my form of investment."

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything."

"But I didn't get you anything for your birthday," he said shamefully. "I didn't have any money to buy you something and now you're giving me this. It's not right, Ellie."

"Fred, I think by now you would know that I'm not a very materialistic person, I don't really care about getting gifts. My birthday gift this year is that Cedric and Harry walked away from this tournament alive. And the other part of my gift is spending the day with you by the lake because I know this summer is going to be chaotic. Can we agree on this being a really nice gift, please?"

Fred wasn't willing to argue with her, one because he didn't wish to argue, and two Eleanor seemed mentally exhausted. He didn't wish to add to her stress, so he simply nodded his head before setting the bag of coins aside. Eleanor was about to ask what he was up to when he grabbed her and gently pulled her into his lap. With a content sigh, Eleanor leaned back into his chest and closed her eyes to relax.

"Happy Birthday, love."

When the time came for the Leaving Feast, Eleanor was making her way to the Great Hall with Marnie after spending most of her day with Fred. The two girls were wondering how the events of the evening were going to go revolving around the Inter-House Championship if it was even going to take place. However before they could enter, Eleanor spotted Professor Moody making his way towards them to enter the Great Hall.

"I'll meet you inside," she told Marnie, "I just want to say something to Moody."

Marnie seemed uneasy before reminding herself that the Moody that attacked Eleanor was not the same Moody that roamed the castle those days. She gave a nod of her head before heading inside, leaving Eleanor to approach the professor alone.

"Professor Moody?"

She watched as the man jumped as if she had shocked him with a ten volt, leaving her to flinch as well. But as soon as he noticed it was her, he seemed to ease up a bit.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she said, "I just...I didn't get a chance to thank you before."

"Thank me?" he asked gruffly, his tone mixed with confusion. "Just what are you thanking me for, lass?"

"For helping me back when we were in the trunk. There wasn't much that could be done, but you tried to keep me awake. I suffered a pretty nasty concussion and Madam Pomfrey told me it was a good thing that you kept me alert for as long as possible. So, thank you."

At first, he said nothing in return, only staring at Eleanor as if she was some odd creature. But after a moment or so, he finally spoke.

"Don't mention it. Now go on inside."

While it sounded impolite, Eleanor took it as his way of saying "you're welcome" and offered a smile in his direction before entering the Great Hall.

The Great Hall had not been transformed as its per usual when it came to the End of Term, there were no banners of one House draped all over to represent the winner. And as Eleanor took her seat beside Marnie, she could see her fellow Hufflepuffs staring in their direction, whispering among themselves. More than likely, it was due to the fact that Cedric's absence from the table was highly noticeable and seeing as the two were his best friends, people were hoping for some form of gossip. But Eleanor and Marnie weren't willing to give any. Cedric had gone home to rest and that was all they were willing to share.

Eventually, Professor Dumbledore rose from his seat among the staff and approached the podium, bringing the Great Hall to become washed over in silence.

"The end of another year."

The usual hint of humour to the headmaster's voice was gone, replaced with such a serious tone that carried across his facial features.

"Before we begin with tonight's events, there is something I wish to say to all of you. The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. Lord Voldemort has returned."

A ripple of gasps paired with frightened faces came over the Great Hall however, Dumbledore was not finished.

"It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so – either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend the events of that evening were simply that of hallucinations of Harry and Cedric, is an insult to them and an insult to your intelligence."

He continued on but Eleanor's gaze made its way over to Harry and he looked over in her direction. It's okay, she mouthed to him, although whether either one of them believed her words was another story.

"I say to you all, once again – in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided."