She's able to fight them off long enough to get away. She makes very sure to cover her trail before returning to Hogwarts and reporting the incident.

"...I don't like this. We get unlucky sometimes, but - multiple Death Eaters even on its own is noticeably unlucky."

"And twice in a row is definitely weird."

She nods. "We can pull you off rotation, if you want, or start sending you out with more backup."

"Next time I go, add backup? But if it happens again they're looking for me specifically and I should stop letting myself be a target."

She nods. "Alright."

"Hopefully it's nothing, but."

"But caution won't hurt."

Fay accompanies Ellie herself on Ellie's next mission out -

This time the Death Eaters at least don't survive trying to ambush her. 

Looks like she's staying in the castle for now.

Unfortunately so. 

There's still things she can do to help and coordinate.

Of course - there's a nearly constant need for just about every position, honestly, so Ellie has her pick of tasks. Administration, inventory, child minding, helping develop lesson plans for the younger Hogwarts students, Transfiguring raw materials into usable supplies, helping in the gardens, brewing time consuming but simple and essential potions for their medical stores... Helping Anathema pick apart and improve the wards... Helping repair broken items... Helping sort through the miscellaneous crap that's piled up in the Room of Requirement over the centuries - they're finding that the storage for miscellaneous things in it has a tremendous number of potentially useful supplies... Patrolling to make sure nothing's slipped past the wards...

Research on the horcruxes and Deathly Hallows, too, though there's large gaps between when they can get new materials in.

She focuses most on administrative and inventory tasks, continuing investigation on horcruxes and Hallows in her downtime.

Information on the Hallows is as scarce as ever, and what she learns about horcruxes is not especially encouraging. One tidbit she does uncover is that the sacrifice for a horcrux ritual needs to be designated in advance, and it seems like it is only possible to have one designate at a time.

...It's possible Voldemort's been hunting her if he'd already designated her as a sacrifice - he tended to use significant sacrifices, as far as they can tell, and he might've designated Ellie as his sacrifice and then tried to kill her when she was a baby.

If true, Voldemort might not have many more horcruxes.

Diary, cup, sword, locket, diadem. If Ellie was a target, that would make six horcruxes for seven soul fragments.

One of the target numbers they'd been thinking he might go for...

Not proof, but definitely suggestive.

They'll be careful about threats to Ellie, then.

Nod.

...Anathema strengthens her protections against infiltrators. She thinks she can set up a gate along the entry path that'll strip disguises...

And one night a few weeks later - after the school year's started -

The cloud of Dementors shifts. Concentrating. Opening some gaps in their back ranks, though there's still a solid wall pressed against the wards -

A series of flaming stones streak toward the castle, slamming into a shimmering, diffuse barrier and exploding over it.

The castle walls shake, and alarms begin to go off.

She wakes with alarms. An attack- they have protocols, have to get up-

Anathema's rolling out of bed, summoning her robe and shoes and throwing them on - then Ellie's, helping her.

The castle shakes again, bright explosions going off outside their window.

Their protocols, at least, have their family grouping in the living room - Malcolm then going to the points where they've set up artillery, Sirius joining him to defend the guns - Anathema needs to get to the Chamber to seal entrances - Elodie with the group responding to any possible broad-area charms -

Fay, Bellatrix, and Ellie are to stay together, at least at first, as powerful defenders and as a possible strike team.

Almost all of the castle inhabitants will be making their way into more shielded areas of the dungeons - to be evacuated into the Chamber and then given paths to flee out of the castle and Apparate away if the outer defenses fail. Anathema will be staying with the Chamber the entire fight, watching the shifting defenses through the Marauder's Map, doing what she can to call Hogwarts itself to life.

It feels a lot more terrifying now than it did when they were planning it.

Anathema pauses to make sure she and Ellie have their mirror necklaces. She doesn't want to be unable to talk at all if something goes wrong.

"I've got it. I love you."

She pulls Ellie into a kiss.

"I love you too."

She squeezes her eyes together, briefly, takes a shaking breath, and - "I'll stay safe."