CHAPTER THREE
↳ unwrapped lies

ELARA LUPIN WAS ALWAYS REMINDED HOW HER FATHER WAS A MURDERER. Call it brutal, but it was the hard truth she had to learn very quickly. He had sold Lily and James Potter out to you-know-who (which on its own was quite the tragedy), then murdered Peter Pettigrew and a whole bunch of muggles (which expanded that tragedy to nothing more than horrifying betrayal). Growing up, Remus tried bringing her up in a happy and safe environment. But when your other father is Sirius Orion Black, it's evident the negativity would somehow enter your life. In whatever shape or form, it would always be negativity.

The first time Elara experienced that negativity was when a woman had pulled her child away from Elara and then spat on the girl. Elara was only five at the time.

At the time, she didn't understand it. Remus had done his best to explain everything, about how Sirius wasn't a good man and hurt people, though Elara didn't understand why people didn't like her. She didn't understand why Remus had to pull her from school, why she had to be away from the other kids.

She did't understand why she couldn't call herself Elara Lily Lupin-Black anymore.

It was as though she had to change who she was to fit in. She couldn't be a reminder of the death eater who rotted in Azkaban, otherwise she would be as bad as him. Elara had to be completely different to who she truly was.

It hurt her.

The poor girl could never find true friends because she could never truly be herself around them. Her father was Sirius Black, a death eater, a loyalty to you-know-who, no one wanted to even get close to her because what if she was exactly like him? That was everyone, unless you counted a young red haired boy by the name of Ron Weasley that Elara Lily Lupin had the pleasure of encountering on her first week of Hogwarts. She had entered Hogwarts with worries she'd never connect to anyone, though the moment she met the red haired kid, things clicked into place. He didn't care if her father was a murderer, he cared whether or not she had a box of chocolate frogs spare (of course she did and she ate the chocolate whilst he had the card).

At first, Elara kept to being friends with Ron and Ron only. When they were alone, she was as loud as she could be, always laughing and living. But the moment someone else appeared, she'd turn into a completely different person. Ron noticed it almost immediately, though it took others longer to realise.

But gradually she grew out of her shell.

Growing up a socially isolated life wasn't beneficial to Elara. It stunted her social growth immensely, so Hogwarts had been a big step for the girl. Eventually, she finally found herself alive with people who cared about her and allowed her to be herself, but times were still hard.

Elara carefully knotted her hair wrap, securing her braids as she finished sorting herself out. It was 11pm and tomorrow she'd be meeting Hermione up at Diagon Alley. She quickly moved to the window, drawing the curtains shut as Remus knocked on the door.

She opened the door, seeing him all ready for bed. "You all sorted for tomorrow?"

Elara hummed. "Yeah."

He leaned down and pressed a small kiss on her head. "Okay, goodnight sweetheart."

"Night Papa." She kissed him on the cheeks, closing the door behind. She turned off the main light, Placing her book down, Elara wrapped herself in all the blankets she had. Her father was still struggling to play for gas and electric, so to minimise the amount she used, she resorted to using candle lights and warm, thick blankets.

She secured her blue silk hair wrap around her hair once more. Remus managing to braid her hair for the new school year. She leaned forward, blowing the candle out, the flame disappeared and she leaned down and rested her head to the side. She blinked once, then twice as she fell into an abyss of slumber.

At first nothing was there, it was all dark and unknowing. It was a mystery that she'd unwrap. Reaching her hand out, she grasped whatever she felt and suddenly light beamed down on her face, illuminating the room she stood in. In front of her was a cloth, it was ragged, old, smelt weird and clearly had a purpose. Curiosity filled the girl and she lifted her dark brown hand out to touch the cloth, perhaps it was not there. But thus, she felt it. It wasn't pleasant to touch, but it had a texture that she couldn't exactly pinpoint.

Grasping firmly, she yanked it off, a silhouette that moved graciously pictures now on the cloth that was behind the one she had pulled off. It was three animals: what looked to be a dog, a rat and a stag (perhaps a deer?). She watched as the silhouettes pranced around, chasing one another. Then the room went dark and the happiness that once filled the atmosphere was cold. A rat stood by a snake.

Why would a rat stand with a snake? Snakes weren't overly fond of rats.

"We should tell him-----" There was a distorted sound echoing in her ears, making her head tilt to the side as she practically glided past the white cloth. The echo grew more piercing, as though her ears were ringing so terribly. Elara held onto her ears tightly, squinting her eyes shut as she hunched over. She finally opened her eyes once more, watching as the scenery around her darkened and a shadow of a man and a woman lit up. Curiously, her head tilted to the side and Elara took her hands away from her ears. The woman was yelling, though her voice was distorted, as though she was purposely being cut out. "---us deserves to know!"

"---Dangerous!" The man's voice responded back, equally distorted. It was as though Elara had been completely submerged underwater, unable to properly hear a thing. His voice, however, was familiar, which only made Elara feel more uneasy. She tried moving forward, trying to turn the corner and see exactly who was arguing when someone gripped her shoulder. Quickly, she turned her head, yelping as she came face to face with a dark skinned woman with wild black curls. Her hand quickly moved up to Elara's throat, holding her in place.

Elara felt like the air in her was being choked out, coughing as her hand moved to grip onto the woman. She heaved out, shaking her head in an effort to get away from her. The grip only got tighter and Elara sobbed, her breathing growing more violent as the grip grew more tight. She suddenly felt faint and fell to the ground, the woman standing in front of her with a stoic look. She heard a baby's cry, a mother's sobs and devil-like laughter . It was as though she was falling for a lifetime. She couldn't see anything. Her vision had gotten cloudy and it felt as though someone was holding something against her throat once more.

Elara finally awoke, jumping up in bed, terrified. Her hand immediately moved to her throat, nervously touching it with slight hesitance. Her eyebrows furrowed together when she didn't feel any pain, pure confusion in Elara's eyes. Her shoulders hunched upwards as she breathed in and out wildly, her heart hammering in her chest. She swallowed deeply, her hand covering her mouth as she hunched over. She didn't make a sound. She just sat there. Elara's mind spiralled, what did she just dream about?

She turned to face her window, seeing the curtain completely drawn open. Elara's head tilted to the side in bewilderment. Her window was wide open, which it most certainly wasn't when she went to sleep. Curiously, she peered down and saw a crow perched on the frame, staring at her. With wide eyes, she moved closer, careful to not make a loud noise. Though, just before she could move close enough, the floor board creaked and the crow flew away. A sudden chill made Elara shiver and she gripped on the window frame, closing it shut quietly.

How on earth had it opened in the first place?

Quickly, Elara moved back into her bed, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them. Laurie had woken up, quickly leaning his entire body on her feet. Elara carefully reached a hand down, stroking his fur with slight hesitance. What on earth was that dream?

Who was that woman?

Her heart hammered in her chest as her body froze. She shivered, holding back a sob. Why was she terrified?

She didn't know.

What she she just witnessed? What was that dream?

She heard a creak on the floor, making the girl jump. She turned around wildly, her eyes wide as she stared at the candle at her bedside.

It was lit.

But she blew it out.

How was it lit?

HELLO

I FINISHED MY EXAMS

THEYRE OVER SO MORE UPDATES

(the biggest lie i ever said)

college started up dudes. i'll try and bring updates but please don't bug me. second year of a levels and i can tell it'll be hell

but i promise angst

and i will deliver