Chapter 1

As she heard the lock click behind her Eliza sat down on the thin mattress and dropped her bag onto the floor. To say that Uncle Vernon was disgusted to have Eliza home so early was an understatement, the only reason she was allowed to stay in Harry's room was because there was still snow on the ground from a flurry just after New Year. Aunt Petunia had persuaded her husband to give Eliza the bedroom and he had reluctantly agreed, but he had made it quite clear that should Eliza make even the smallest of sounds during the night she would be out of the house and in the shed in seconds.

Eliza was therefore 100% sure that this would be her last night in the house; she had left the blanket under her bed back at Hogwarts. Hogwarts. It made her heart ache to think of it. She had only left it an hour ago but it felt like a lifetime. After Umbridge had dealt her near-fatal blow she had the good sense to leave the room before Professor McGonagall could hex her. Professor Dumbledore arrived moments later and had assured Eliza that he would have her back in Hogwarts as soon as was legally possibly and that members of the Order would be keeping an eye on both her and Privet Drive.

Eliza pulled her trunk to the foot of the bed but she couldn't bear to open it so she pulled one of Harry's old T-shirts and a pair of his old jogging bottoms from the bottom drawer and changed quickly, trying to stop the tears fall.

A knock disturbed Eliza's thoughts and she looked at the door not bothering to answer, not bothering to move. The door opened and Aunt Petunia's bony face poked round.

"I've done you a hot water bottle, it's going to be cold tonight." Eliza nodded and took the bottle from her Aunt, avoiding eye contact. Aunt Petunia seemed to struggle with herself for a few moments but then left without another word.

As Eliza predicted it was barely 11.30 when Uncle Vernon woke her from her nightmare, irate with her screaming. He dragged her down the stairs and out into the shed. There was still a forgotten jumper of hers from the previous summer lying frozen stiff in the corner. Aunt Petunia opened the door a few minutes after Uncle Vernon had locked it and gave Eliza her trunk, another hot water bottle and a few extra blankets.

The next few days passed by slowly. Aunt Petunia allowed Eliza into the house during the day when Uncle Vernon was at work. She passed the time reading some of Aunt Petunia's muggle novels, Eliza knew that she should be studying but she couldn't face opening her trunk.

On the fourth morning of Eliza's exile Aunt Petunia announced that they, Aunt Petunia and Eliza, were going out. Eliza looked up at her aunt in confusion. They had never gone out together before, not once.

"Come on get your coat. We've got an appointment and we can't be late."

Eliza obediently collected her coat and followed Petunia out of the house; she looked around as they stepped off the doorstep and wondered which Order member would be following them. Petunia walked briskly along the road and Eliza walked slightly behind her, careful to keep her footing on the icy pavement.

After ten minutes of walking they arrived at their destination and Petunia opened the door and walked into the building without looking to see if Eliza was following her. Eliza looked up at the sign and felt her stomach tighten slightly in panic. It was a doctor's surgery, breathing out in determination Eliza walked through the door and stood behind her aunt as they were booked in.

As they sat down in the waiting room Petunia picked up a magazine and flicked through it without taking in the content.

"It's for your own good." She muttered to her niece, Eliza doubted that it was but she nodded nonetheless.

"Miss Potter." The doctor poked his head around the office door and Petunia stood up and made a motion to Eliza who walked into the office ahead of her aunt.

"Hello Miss Potter, it's been quite a while since you were here. What can I do for you?" Asked the Doctor kindly, Eliza looked at the floor and allowed Aunt Petunia to speak for her.

"She needs some sleeping tablets, Doctor Green. She's been suffering with terrible insomnia, so if you could just prescribe some tablets we'll be out of your way."

Dr Green looked slightly surprised by Petunia's directness and looked back at Eliza.

"I'm sorry to hear you're not sleeping Elizabeth, why do you think that is?" Eliza didn't respond, not even a shrug.

"She still doesn't like talking to stranger's doctor, but I can assure you that her school is handling the selective mutism issue, so if we could just get the prescription…"

"Mrs Dursley, I'm sure you can appreciate that I can't simply prescribe sleeping tablets to children without finding out the underlying cause for the insomnia. Do you know the reason why your niece is having problems sleeping?"

Eliza didn't move a muscle waiting to hear what Petunia would say, if anything.

"She…she had a traumatic experience and it is giving her nightmares. Her school are dealing with the situation but she has been…suspended for a few weeks and she finds it harder being with…at home that she does at school. Right, Eliza?" Asked Aunt Petunia carefully, Eliza nodded as it was mostly accurate.

The pair emerged from the surgery twenty minutes later with a fortnight's prescription for sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication. The doctor had finally come round to Petunia's way of thinking and wrote the prescription.

That night she took the tablets under Petunia's watchful glare and then her aunt escorted her upstairs to Harry's room after a tense discussion with Uncle Vernon. She slept soundly.

She actually found the anti-anxiety medication quite helpful, she could gaze for hours without really seeing anything. She was happy to do nothing all day.

After her first week at Privet Drive Eliza realised that she would be staying a while, long enough to do some studying. She started working during the day when Uncle Vernon was out, Aunt Petunia pretended as if she didn't notice the diagrams move on the page. The medication make it harder to concentrate on her work so the progress was very slow.

Owls had arrived for Eliza from the very first night she spent at Privet Drive but she simply detached the letters and put them under her bed. She recognised the handwriting; Fred, Hermione, Harry, Hagrid, Ron, Neville, Remus, Mrs Weasley, and even Ginny, but Eliza couldn't bear to open them. She shut them all away, they were part of a magical world that she felt she was no longer allowed into.

Eliza opened her Potions book and began to read, she found her attention start to ebb after only a few minutes but she was determined to finish the chapter. The only subject that Eliza hadn't studied was Transfiguration, she wasn't sure why.

A knock at the door disturbed Eliza's thoughts and she looked over at Aunt Petunia, who was wiping the already sterile kitchen counter.

"Put those books away and stay here. It's probably the postman or the milkman."

Eliza nodded and pushed the books into her backpack listening to the front door. She heard Aunt Petunia's voice and she didn't sound happy, she was using a voice that she usually reserved for Harry and Eliza. Hearing the sound of footsteps Eliza stood up and looked at the door.

"Come on Eliza, we're going out for the day. Grab your wand and your jacket, the clouds are threatening snow." Remus's voice was mild but Eliza could detect that he wasn't happy with her, or Aunt Petunia. Nevertheless Eliza nodded and went to retrieve her coat and wand, when she went into the living room Aunt Petunia was questioning Remus.

"…going back to…to school?" She asked looking annoyed.

"We're not sure yet." Remus replied shortly.

"Why? He said it wouldn't be too long, it's been over a week already!"

"Believe me, Mrs Dursley we'll have Eliza back home as soon as we can." Remus emphasized the word 'home' and Aunt Petunia pursed her lips.

"Will she be back for dinner?"

"No, Eliza will be back by nine though, is that alright with you?" He spoke in a way that made Eliza sure that Remus did not really care whether Petunia approved or not.

Aunt Petunia nodded and walked back into the kitchen leaving Remus and Eliza alone.

"Do you have your wand?" Remus asked as he opened the door.

Eliza nodded and walked out into the driveway. She wanted to ask where they were going but she didn't really care, anywhere apart from Privet Drive had to be an improvement.

Remus looked around at the road and seemed to nod to someone before turning back to his god-daughter.

"Take my arm, we're apparating."

Eliza did as she was told and prepared herself as best she could. The twist came and the increasingly familiar sensation of her insides being squeezed though a tin can came over her. When she opened her eyes they appeared to be standing in an alley-way.

"Alright?" Remus asked looking to see if she looked like she might throw up, Eliza nodded but took a deep breath nonetheless, her stomach felt a bit like jelly.

"Come on then, let's get some Fish and Chips and then we can have a talk." Eliza nodded again feeling slightly guilty for not replying to the letters.

They walked out of the alley-way and Eliza couldn't help but gasp at the sight, Remus had bought her to the sea-side.

"Fred mentioned that you always wanted to come to the coast so I thought I'd bring you here. It's out of season so it's not too busy and there's an art fair just up the road that I thought you might like." Eliza nodded once more and fought the urge to burst into tears, one escapee ran down her cheek but Remus wiped it away before squeezing her with his arm and leading them down the promenade.

As they sat on a bench eating the Fish and Chips, Eliza turned to her god-father.

"I'm sorry, Remus." She said quietly, biting her bottom lip.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about Eliza; you have every right to be angry. I think I'd block everyone out if it was me, in fact I know I would, but the only person to blame is Umbridge. It's no one else's fault."

"I just feel so…"

"Abandoned, angry, betrayed?" Eliza nodded and took another bite of the Fish, it was delicious but she didn't have much of an appetite.

"How have things been at Privet Drive?" Remus asked putting his polystyrene tray on his lap and turning to face Eliza to make sure she would answer truthfully,

"Fine."

"Really Eliza? Because both you and Harry seem to have a very funny definition of what 'fine' means. You seem to think that it means everything from 'terrible' to 'quite good!'"

Eliza snorted with a small laugh, she knew that Harry was like that but she didn't realise that she did it as well.

"How are you sleeping?"

"Better now that I've got the sleeping ta…" Eliza stopped suddenly; she wasn't sure how Remus would react.

"The what?" Remus asked cautiously. Eliza looked at him for a moment before responding, she wondered if the anti-anxiety medication was making her more verbal or if it would have slipped out anyway.

"Well…the first few nights were really bad so…"

"Don't you have the blanket with you?"

"No, but I'm sleeping better now. Straight through the night, no nightmares, just…just dreams." She often dreamt about Dragons but they were more like the ones in Muggle films than the ones in the Wizarding World.

"You're not sleep-walking either?" Remus asked, looking sceptical.

"No." She answered, honestly.

"How Eliza?"

"Well…umm…Aunt Petunia took me to a doctor and he gave me some…some sleeping tablets and some tablets to make…" She hadn't meant to go that far.

"Make you, what?!"

"Just…calmer…" Eliza murmured, looking out at the seemingly endless sea, she wondered what it would be like to swim in, cold probably.

"Eliza!" Remus had stood up quickly and blocked Eliza's view, for a moment she wondered if they were being attacked, but then she saw Remus' face and saw that he was angry but not scared.

"What is it?" She asked, looking at the chips that Remus had scattered on the floor when he jumped up.

"I can't believe this! What are the other tablets for?"

"Anti-anxiety, they're really good. I'm not very hungry though, do you want my chips? You dropped yours." Eliza held out her tray and Remus looked at them for a moment but didn't take them.

"Eliza, why did you take them?" He said, crouching down in front of her.

"The Doctor told me too, it's no different to Madam Pomfrey giving me a Potion, except that the tablets are easier to swallow. They work Remus! They really work! Don't worry about me, they even let me sleep in the house!" Even in Eliza's slightly drugged state she realised that the last part was a mistake, she put her hand to her mouth and ignored Remus's gaze.

"As opposed to where, Eliza? The roof, the driveway?"

"No, you're being silly! It's my fault anyway, I tried not to have nightmares the first night, I even tried staying awake again but…"

"Eliza, this is not your fault! When are you going to start believing that?" Remus knelt down in front of Eliza and put his finger under her chin forcing her to look at him. Eliza didn't reply but she didn't look away either.

"Where did you sleep?"

"Last night?" Eliza asked, yawning slightly. Remus sighed.

"We'll talk about it later, it's like your drunk. Eat some food."

"I'm not drunk, I'm not hungry though." Eliza said, indignantly.

"Eat, no arguments."

"But…"

"I said, no arguments, we will talk about this Eliza. You and Harry are far too good at keeping secrets, just like you're mother."

After Eliza had eaten every last chip and every bite of fish Remus bought them both a cup of tea and they walked along the sea front.

Remus told Eliza that Fred had started a 'Silence for Eliza' campaign whereby most of Gryffindor house and a good deal of the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students refused to talk in the presence of Umbridge, even in the Great Hall. It made Eliza's heart ache to think of him and she resolved to read his letters when she got home.

Eliza also learned that ten of Voldemort's most fanatical followers, including Bellatrix LeStrange who had tortured Neville's parents, had broken out of Azkaban and the Ministry feared that Sirius was involved. Remus assured Eliza that Sirius had promised to stay in Grimmauld Place for the time being. Eliza knew that his boredom would get the better of him at some point.

The spent the rest of the afternoon at an art exhibition in a nearby town, Eliza enjoyed looking at all of the different styles of painting and Remus bought her a book on drawing animals that Eliza had been admiring. She had always struggled with cats in particular.

"Remus, is Biscuit still at Hogwarts?" She asked, as Remus shrunk the book and put it in his pocket.

"Yes, come on, let's get to London." Eliza nodded, surprised by the rush that Remus seemed to be in.

Remus pulled Eliza into an alleyway and the two of them apparated. When Eliza opened her eyes she was pleased to see the shabby outline of Number 12 Grimmauld Place inflating between two houses.

They walked into the hallway and Remus led the way into the kitchen.

Mrs Weasley was the first to reach Eliza and she gave her a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh Eliza, you're here! You look thin, are they feeding you enough? Oh we need to get you back to Hogwarts! Arthur look at her…"

"Calm down Molly, it's only been a fortnight since you saw her. Hello Eliza, how are you doing?" Mr Weasley gave Eliza a brief hug and then walked over to his wife and tried to calm her down.

"How are you doing, Eliza?" Asked Sirius patting the chair next to him, Eliza went and sat down.

"I'm fine, thank…"

"Eliza." Growled Remus with an almost wolf-like quality.

"Umm...well, I've been better." Eliza corrected, Remus still didn't look satisfied but he let the matter drop.

"Molly, have you got a Purifying Potion handy?" Remus asked, looking up at Mrs Weasley.

"I think so, why?" She replied, summoning a bag, Eliza watched it zoom into the kitchen and land on the table in front of her. Remus didn't reply but Mrs Weasley handed him the Potion, he measured out a dose and passed it to Eliza.

"Drink it, now." He said, firmly. Eliza sighed and took the small cup off him.

"You know, Muggle stuff is much easier to swallow, why don't you..?"

"Drink. It." Remus repeated, glaring at Eliza. She swallowed the Potion as instructed. It look a moment for Eliza's normal feeling of impending doom and anxiety to return to her, she had rather liked the effects of the tablets.

"Was that really necessary?" She asked, angrily.

"Yes." Remus replied, the others were looking at them clearly confused.

"Why? So I can be angry and…and scared and nervous again. So it can hurt again!" Eliza stood up and stormed out of the kitchen.

It was a few minutes later when Mr Weasley found her, she was sat in the window seat in the drawing room with angry tears rolling down her face.

"Here's some tea." Mr Weasley said, placing a cup and saucer on a small table next to her.

"Thanks." She mumbled, wiping her eyes.

"He just wants the best for you." Eliza nodded although it took a few seconds for the sentence to sink in, when it did Mr Weasley had already left the room. Eliza picked up her tea and found her way back to the kitchen.

In spite of the awkward start, Eliza spent an enjoyable evening at Grimmauld Place but when half eight rolled around and Remus asked for a private moment with her, Eliza knew it was time for questions again. Mr Weasley and Sirius left without fuss but Mrs Weasley lingered by the door, Eliza thought Remus might ask her to leave but instead he motioned her to sit down.

"Eliza, we need to know what's happening in Surrey." He said, sitting directly opposite her. Eliza sighed before she replied.

"I thought there are Order members watching the house."

"They are watching the house Eliza, but they aren't peering through the curtains. They are there to look for intruders, not to check if you're eating! Are you getting enough food?"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon's at work most of the time and Aunt Petunia is…she's better than she was."

"Where are you sleeping?"

"In Harry's room."

"Don't you have a room?" Asked Mrs Weasley gently, Eliza was completely stumped by the question. Did she have a room? She had alternated between the shed and the cupboard under the stairs but Eliza doubted that Mrs Weasley or Remus would be pleased to hear that.

"Umm…yeah but it's being painted," Eliza knew that her delay in answering had cost her the lie.

"Eliza, do you usually sleep in the shed?" Mrs Weasley acknowledged the elephant in the room and Eliza's startled look told the story.

"Because of the nightmares and the sleep walking! But I'm not at the moment because it's cold, so that's why Aunt Petunia got me the sleeping tablets, so I could sleep in the house!"

"Sleeping tablets?" Asked Mrs Weasley bemused, apparently Remus had not filled her in with the whole story.

"It's a muggle drug Mrs Weasley, the muggle healer prescribed, and the anti-anxiety tablets for Eliza…"

"But they work really well, I haven't had any nightmares and I haven't sleep walked so what's the problem?" Asked Eliza desperately.

"The problem, Eliza, is that you could get addicted and they could hurt you in the long run. Your Aunt isn't doing this for your own good, she's doing it to alleviate her own conscience…"

"Remus." Warned Mrs Weasley as Remus stood up looking angry.

"Well then, get me back to Hogwarts! Please…"

Mrs Weasley looked like she was going to cry and Remus looked defeated.

"We're trying Eliza. We've got some homework assignments that Professor Dumbledore sent; you can send the essays by owl. Will that be allowed?"

"Probably, at night." Replied Eliza feeling evasively. In truth she had no idea how to return the essays, Hedwig was at Hogwarts.

"We'll have you out of there as soon as we can, I promise." Said Mrs Weasley giving Eliza another hug.

The goodbyes were hard but when Eliza arrived back at Privet Drive she was more worried about what Remus would say to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon than when she would see him again. Petunia answered the door and Eliza hugged Remus hoping that he would leave quickly.

"Returned in one piece. Mrs Dursley."

"Well in you come, up to bed." Eliza went to cross the threshold but Remus held her back.

"There's been a breakout from Azkaban prison so we'll be stepping up Eliza's security we'll try to respect your privacy and avoid peeking through your curtains but Eliza's safety and wellbeing is paramount."

Aunt Petunia blanched slightly but maintained her composure and Remus left without another word.

As Petunia went to bed that night she couldn't help but look in on Eliza, she was sleeping peacefully and with her eyes closed she looked so much like Lily that Petunia's mind started to wander. She knew that Lily would hate what she was doing but what choice did she have? Vernon made it quite clear where the twins stood in their household.

When they had first arrived Petunia had tried to treat them well but one night Harry had made Dudley's toy fly around the living room and Vernon had been livid. He moved them both into the cupboard under the stairs and instructed her to ignore their cries. Harry had always slept well but even then Eliza had always had trouble sleeping looking back Petunia wondered if it had been nightmares that had haunted her sleep even then.

Petunia shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned out the landing light, Vernon had made it clear where the twins stood. It was too late to change things now.

A/N Hello and welcome to the third and final part of Eliza's story! I had a great response to the last few chapters of Courage to Words and I'm hoping that the support will continue in this instalment.