"I'm sure I will, at some point."

"Sooner rather than later, hopefully."

"After the initial tasks are done, perhaps."

"Alright."

"Speaking of which, I should get started. Do you want to arrange a rendezvous for the new identity?" she asks Fay.

"Sure." There's several options, though her availability will open up a lot in the summer...

Depends how long she thinks she'll need to get it done. Ellie won't exactly have a mailing address they can keep in contact through until this gets sorted.

Two way mirrors or similar are an option. 

If she has a set going spare.

She can scrounge something basic up, and enchant it to be a bit more functional - it won't last very long, but it'll be enough to get them to the summer.

That works for Ellie.

Good. 

Once that's taken care of, would Lily care to escort Ellie out of the castle?

She'd be delighted. 

Excellent. If they get to the Forest, Ellie can make her way from there.

The map and cloak are both very helpful for that. 

Useful tools.

"Guess I'll see if the thestrals like me first."

"Well, they like me."

"Oh?"

"I mean, they like Fay more? But I can see more of them than usual, and they follow me around when I'm in the Forest, and they'll let me touch them - Fay keeps warning me that they're dangerous to ride, even the younger ones, but I don't think they'll harm me. I'm not scared of them, and it's not like I'm close to dying or anything."

"Have you... always been able to see them?"

She makes a wobbly motion with her hand. "I never saw any when I was like, really little? But - I don't know. I started seeing the darker ones kinda just out of the corner of my eye when I was like, six I guess? A bit after I started really understanding that death exists. I could see all the ones that pull the carriages by the time I came to Hogwarts, though those are the dark ones anyways, and I can see a good chunk of even the light grey ones now. - I can actually see them better under the cloak, even the really pale ones, which was the biggest clue honestly that this isn't a normal invisibility cloak. I've been trying to use it to investigate the thestrals more, but..." Shrug. "They're a mysterious bunch, even when they like you."

"...Old magic is like that. And thestrals are about as old as it gets. Not that they really relate to time in a way that's, uh, entirely comprehensible."

Snort. "Death doesn't either, so that checks out."

"Exactly."