CHAPTER SEVEN
↳ slytherin barbie

ELARA KNEW HER DREAMS WERE NOT NORMAL DREAMS. She had awoken in the morning, disorientated and confused as she looked around the dorm. Everything felt like a blur, a mirrage of colours practically soaking into each other and disassociating the thirteen year old. She rubbed her eyes softly, blinking repetively as though to finally awaken from whatever state she was in. For a while, it didn't work. Her eyes remained glossed over, unfocused as she stared at the shadows. Though, eventually Laurie nuzzled close to her and something in her mind clicked that she was safe. She didn't understand why she was so terrified in the first place, after all, she wasn't in a strange environment.

Something about them just didn't sit right with her, a thought that played on her mind in a repetitive manner. She wondered why she dreamt in such a manner, though perhaps it was quite normal.

Maybe some people just dreamt in the same way she did.

Surely.

Elara could not be completely alone in this world. She could not be trapped in a world, filled with supernatural and natural, and exist as the sole person who dreams in the same way she does. Surely, there are people like her somewhere, drifting around hallways emptily as they try piece together their messed up dreams.

In complete silence, Elara chewed away at some jam on toast, deep in thought. Her mind was elsewhere, preoccupied to even notice her surroundings. Carefully, she ripped off a section of the bread, sticking it in her mouth and chewing. She jumped when Cedric practically jumped into her embrace, causing the Hufflepuff to frown.

He gave her a look. "What's up with you?"

Elara shrugged, not actually knowing why. "I dunno. Didn't sleep well."

Cedric frowned, tilting his head to the side in confusion as he reached over to Elara's plate, grabbing the other half of her toast. "Nightmares?"

Perplexed, Elara nodded slowly. She took another bite of her toast, chewing on it and then swallowing before replying, "Yes... oddly enough I did have a nightmare."

Cedric shrugged, lazily pulling at the toast with his mouth. He chewed on it quickly, replying as he chewed. "Makes sense. One night I couldn't sleep after having a dream Freddy Krueger ate my entire cupboard's worth of food." He scowled to himself at the memory, liking the fact that Elara was grinning. He slapped her lightly, mock betrayal evident on his face. "Come on, it was horrific."

"Yeah cause Freddy Krueger eating your oreos is totally horrifying." Elara rolled her eyes.

"Come off it, I was seven. Not my fault I thought I was seeing The Neverending Story and accidentally walked into the wrong screening!"

Elara rolled her eyes. "Sure, I believe that." She reached down to her plate once more, only to find it completely void (apart from the odd crumb). Quickly her eyes looked up to Cedric, narrowing down on him. "Excuse me?"

"What?" Cedric replied, his mouth full. Before Elara could even say anything, Morgan quickly pulled his arms over the pair, pulling them close. He pressed a quick kiss to Cedric's lips, before kissing Elara on the forehead. "Hey Morg."

Morgan leaned in to Cedric slightly, before tiredly asking, "Why is El pissed?"

"He ate my toast."

Morgan grimaced. "Well, sweet Elara," he leaned in slightly, grinning at the Hufflepuff. "Cedric's a bit of a knob."

Elara winced. "A bit? He is a total knob!"

"That's a bit harsh." Cedric remarked, grimacing when Morgan nudged him in the side with his elbow. "Ow!"

"Should've thought of that before you ate my toast." Elara snarked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Count your days, Cedric, because at this rate you won't be living past seventeen."

"Are you making a prophecy, El?" Cedric snickered, covering his mouth from letting any loud bellows escape his mouth. "He who shall eat the rest of the toast shall never emerge victorious past his seventeenth year." He mocked, shaking his head with an exasperated smile. Cedric turned back to his boyfriend, grinning. "You got Potions with our best friend?"

Morgan shook his head. "No. Got McGonagall instead thankfully." He mockingly breathed out in relief, teasing Cedric knowing fully well the Hufflepuff was stuck to endure Severus Snape for his first lesson back at Hogwarts.

Cedric groaned, throwing his head back in dismay. "Ugh, lucky."

"Gaia's got him then though as well," Morgan tried to comfort, though Cedric rolled his eyes once more. If there was anything you needed to know, it was that Cedric Diggory did not exactly like Severus Snape for several reasons. One of those reasons, was mainly because of how Snape did very little to actually help Gaia when it came to all the abuse she endured from her fellow housemates.

That and the fact Snape is a complete and utter prick.

"I only tolerate Gaia," Cedric mumbled to himself, crossing his arms over his chest like a child. His lips formed a small pout. "As nice as Slytherins can be, some just get on my nerves."

Morgan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, don't you say that about everyone though?" The Ravenclaw snickered slightly, kissing his boyfriend on the cheek. "What about you, El?" He focused his attention on the girl, who seemed completely dazed out. "El?"

Cedric tapped her, making the girl flinch. "What?"

"Zoned out there, kid." Cedric whispered, before placing the back of his hand on her forehead. His eyebrows furrowed together. "You really didn't get a good sleep, did you?"

Morgan's eyebrows furrowed together. "You're not sleeping well again? I thought you said your dreams got better?"

She nodded tiredly, humming in affirmation. "Dunno, they suddenly got worse a few nights ago." She breathed out heavily, rubbing her eyes with a soft yawn. "Maybe I need to talk to Papa about getting me some more melatonin. We ran out middle of Summer but I didn't wanna stress him because it's pricey."

Cedric rolled his eyes at the girl. "Didn't I tell you to send me an owl if you ever needed any money?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know, just don't wanna be a pain." She tucked a braid behind her ear. "Anyways, I've got Divination first, so maybe I'll be predicting your deaths."

"Ain't that a bit morbid?"

"Welcome, my children. In this room, you shall explore the noble art of Divination." Elara opted for Divination this year because it seemed interesting and bizarre, something she believed she'd enjoy. "In this room, you shall discover if you possess the Sight." The woman was a strange person but she held an enthusiasm for something, which meant she must've been happy. "Hello. I am Professor Trelawney. Together we shall cast ourselves into the future. This term, we'll focus on Tasseomancy, the art of reading tea leaves. So please, take the cup of the person sitting opposite you."

Elara grabbed the cup that belonged to the person opposite her. She knew the girl very well. She was a Ravenclaw with short blonde hair. Elara recognised her as Claire Hunters. The two weren't the best of friends but got along "What do you see? The truth lies buried like a sentence deep within a book, waiting to be read."

"But first, you must broaden your minds.
First, you must look beyond." Professor Trelawney was a rather peculiar woman who was very eccentric yet was happy nonetheless. She was a reclusive woman who had called Hogwarts home for years.

"What a load of rubbish." She heard Hermione say. Elara's eyes were wide as she realised that Hermione wasn't there a second ago. Did she somehow magically appear? It wasn't impossible, they went to Hogwarts for merlin's sake, anything was possible.

"Where did you come from?"

"Me?" Hermione said incredulously. "I've been here all this time."

"Reminds me of Houdini," Elara mumbled. She was very well aware of the Hungarian Illusionist who was the muggle equivalent to a wizard in some way or another.

"Houdini who?" Claire muttered besides Elara, although she ignored the blonde and continued listened to the teacher as she droned on.

"You, boy... Is your grandmother quite well?"

"I think so?"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Elara went back to looking into Claire's cup. She saw an apple and told the girl, the blonde beaming at the thought of good grades. Weirdly, Claire couldn't tell what was in Elara's cup. Elara assumed it was just bad luck and perhaps it was just her who was lucky at that.

"Your aura is pulsing, dear. Are you in the beyond?" Elara cringed at how energetic the teacher's voice was. "I think you are."

"Sure." The boy pursed his lips, looking a bit frantic at the sudden attention offered by the Divination teacher.

"Look at the cup. Tell me what you see."

"Oh, yeah. Um... Well, Harry's got sort of a wonky cross. That's trials and suffering.
And that there could be the sun and that's happiness." Elara found herself shaking her head. "So... you're gonna suffer, but you're gonna be... happy about it." How pleasant, Elara thought.

"Give me the cup." The woman grasped on to the cup before letting out a shriek of terror. Claire jumped in her seat and Elara's gaze turned onto the scene. "Oh, my dear boy.
My dear... you have the Grim."

"The Grin? What's the Grin?"

"You idiot!" Elara laughed out.

"Not the Grin, you idiot. The Grim." The class was grim (pun not intended) at the thought of the Grim, an omen of death. It wasn't exactly the most pleasing thing you'd like to see in your tea.

"Taking form of a giant spectral dog." A Gryffindor spoke out, reading the text. "It's among the darkest omens in our world. It's an omen... of death."

Everyone went silent when he finished his sentence. "An omen of death", what an alluring and peculiar thing to read.

Elara thought to herself for a moment. Were teachers really allowed to predict a student's death? It seemed awful for them to even utter a word about a student dying. The more Elara thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded. Why would Harry die? Harry, die- for a split second, Elara felt dread. They did seem like words that did find themselves closely connected, although he had a lucky streak of surviving.

As Elara left the class, she couldn't help but think about Snuffles and wonder if he was well. After all, Snuffles was just another cute dog that deserved a loving home. There wasn't anything odd about him. No, he was just an average stray.

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"You don't think that Grim thing's got anything to do with Sirius Black?" Ron queried. The quad were all walking to their next lesson which was with Hagrid. They all seemed to be in a cheery mood, despite how they were talking about the possibility of Harry's death.

"Oh, honestly, Ron. If you ask me, Divination's a woolly discipline." Hermione gave her opinion, although Elara widely disagreed. Although the basis of it was a bit... peculiar, Elara very much enjoyed it. She found it fascinating how there's a possibility of predicting prophecies. "Now, Ancient Runes, that's a fascinating subject."

"No offence 'Mione," Elara began. "But I prefer divination. It's so fascinating!" She continued skipping down to where they'd meet Hagrid for their first lesson. "Imagine predicting the fates of those around you, the endless possibilities of saving someone you love and changing fate being right at the tip of your fingers is just a beautiful thought," the girl said, dreamily. She turned towards the group with a big smile on her face and then turned away, trodding down to Care of Magical Creatures.

"Ancient Runes?" Ron looked at Hermione, bewildered. "Exactly how many classes are you taking?" Elara had a superstition on how the girl managed to do these classes, although what was the fun in spoiling the plot.

"A fair few."

"How much is "a fair few"?" Elara turned to her. "Three or more?" Hermione ignored her and Ron continued droning on about how it is impossible. "More," the girl pushed for an answer, Hermione just laughing lightly.

"Don't be silly. How could anyone be in two classes at once?" The girl rolled her eyes. ""Broaden your minds. Use your Inner Eye to see the future."" Elara let out breathless laughter. She stared at Hermione, feeling her cheeks grow hotter and hotter, a smile very clear on her face, the brunette also smiling at her. The two girls made eye contact before breaking it with bashful expressions on their faces.

"C'mon now, get a move on! Got a real treat for you." The giant seemed quite eager to start his first lesson with them as a professor. Elara felt so happy for him, he really did need this, especially with all the trouble he's dealt with for the past few years whilst they've all been at Hogwarts. "Great lesson comin' up. Follow me." The group followed Hagrid who lead them toward a small paddock that was found in the side of the forbidden forest. Dead ferrets hung loosely, flys buzzing around them and a strange scent in the air that would make a normal person gag. It didn't bother Elara too much, there were worst things to be smelling.

"Gather 'round. Find yerself a spot." The giant ushered the group. "That's it. Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books --"

"And exactly how do we do that?" Elara wanted to smack Draco when he asked that in an obviously horrible way. He was a very stuck up boy, Elara couldn't stand him at all. His platinum blonde hair and pasty white skin reminded her of a Barbie doll, a muggle children's toy that many girls were fascinated with. Elara herself owned some Barbie dolls. They weren't extravagant, but considering her household wasn't the wealthiest, it was the best thing she was ever given. Draco was Elara would call "the Slytherin Barbie". In her opinion, it was an insult to Barbie because Elara knew that Barbie wouldn't tolerate such a dick.

"You just stroke the spine of course," Elara doubted that Draco knew what a spine even was, but was slightly surprised when his pasty fingers found themselves stroking the spine confused. Elara found herself stroking the spine cautiously and the book let out a few growls and then she managed to open it. She found it quite bizarre how the book was actually alive, but this was Hagrid teaching. He was the same giant who had tried to illegally own dragons in a wooden house, bought a three headed dog from you-know-who, this book was one of the most sanest things she's known him to do and by frankly she'd rather it stay that way.

Sadly it seemed as though not many people got the memo on how to open the book. Poor Neville found himself being attacked by the book and everyone found it humorous, well at least everyone did. She didn't. It was quite sad how Neville's misfortune was the comedy of the class and Elara pitied him a lot for tha, "Don't be such a wimp, Longbottom."

"I'm okay. Okay." He went back to being attacked on the floor. Elara managed to step onto the book, her face wincing and hoping that the book didn't feel things. She managed to lock the book up and just pray that Neville wouldn't try and open it again. "Thanks," Elara reaches her hand out to the boy and awkwardly, he grabbed onto her extended hand that helped him up.

"Hey Nev, remember to stroke the spine next time," Elara gave him a small smile.

"Oh, yeah. Terribly funny." If it was possible, Elara's eyes would've rolled even further behind her head. "Really Witty. God, this place has gone to the dogs. Wait until Father hears Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes." Elara felt like hitting him, but she'd rather not touch any filth today.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry, similarly to Elara, wasn't exactly fond of the boy who seemed to have his head too far up his ass and his nose too high for his liking. Sometimes she wondered if it would be a crime to murder when it's him. Perhaps she'd be given an award of some sorts.

The boy sounded more like an owl, hooting at the chosen one. Suddenly his eyes widened and he pointed behind Harry. "D-Dementor! Dementor!" Terrified, Harry and a few other gullible people turned to look where the slytherin pointed, only to see the space was absent of the shadowy beings that reminded Elara of Death himself.

"Don't worry Harry," Elara reassured him, her hand resting on his shoulders, ushering him away from the Slytherins who were laughing at the look of terror on his face. They had pulled their hoods up, intimidating the dementors. "I heart that the prat nearly pissed himself when they were on the train," a few people laughed, including Harry. Elara always found a way to' make other people smile and also found a way to piss of the prick.

"Shut it, Lupin," the Slytherin snarled at the curly haired girl. Elara rolled her eyes at him. She couldn't care less about what he had to say. "Heard your dear ol' papa was just as insane as you. Hard to believe anyone would even want you as a kid, seeing as you're such a disappointment,"

The small Hufflepuff nearly faltered, she had to mentally reassure herself that he was bluffing to make her weaker. Elara breathed in. With the confidence she held, the girl replied to him: "I'm sorry my father chose to have me. Your parents just ended up with you. At least I'm wanted and was found, you just ended up there by chance," some people in the class snickered and Elara gave a high five to Seamus who had a bright, cheerful grin on his face.

The atmosphere seemed more tense now. Some people wouldn't think a Hufflepuff would say stuff back to a Slytherin. Yet today they witnessed Elara Lily Lupin putting Draco Malfoy in his place. It served the Slytherin right, he believed his authority was greater, but at the end of the day, without his father's position in the ministry, he was alike to almost every single person in this class.

The class was now paying attention to the creature they were gazing at. Elara thought he was beautiful. It was a hippogriff. Hippogriffs were some of the most fascinating creatures the world had to offer. "Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid seemed fond of the creature. His odd fascination with creatures was truly the gift magic brought. Not convenience, but happiness. Magic was always envisioned as something on the lines of beauty, Elara sometimes wished she could show muggles magic and help them. It wasn't exactly permitted or tolerated because of the witch burning they did to so many. "Say hello to Buckbeak." Oh so that was his name. Buckbeak.

"Hagrid, exactly what is that?" Ron asked, confusion wavering in his voice.

"It's a hippogriff," Elara's voice rang out. Hagrid's attention was bought to the girl who stood closely by Hermione.

"You're right about that Elara. Five points to Hufflepuff," Hagrid gave her a small smile. He seemed truly happy that he now had this position. "First thing you wanna know about hippogriffs is that they're very proud creatures. Very easily offended. You do not want to insult a hippogriff. It may just be the last thing you ever do. Now, who'd like to come and say hello?" The giant explained to the group of third years. Everyone stood a step back when he said the last thing, all but Harry.

"Well done, Harry. Well done. Come on now." Harry didn't seem too eager and was pushed forward by Ron who tried to get him to move forward. "Now... you have to let him make the first move. It's only polite. So... step up. Give him a nice bow." It seemed simple enough. Although Elara didn't want to risk anything. She doesn't ever want to accidentally offend a hippogriff, they deserves the utmost respect. "Then you wait and see if he bows back. If he does, you can go and touch him. If not... Well, we'll get to that later."

"Just make your bow. Nice and low." Buckbeak didn't bow back. Hagrid seemed tense. This wasn't what he expected at all. "Back off, Harry. Back off." Harry James Potter found himself stepping on a branch, snapping it. Hermione's hand quickly grasped onto Elara's forearm. The two blushed and stared at each other for a moment, before turning away, hands still touching ever so slightly. Perhaps it was the warmth of the day, perhaps it was the fact she and Hermione were close, Elara would never know. She felt in a world of her own, her and Hermione, trapped in the beyond where no one broke them from this moment. Time seemed as still as ice on the cold Black lake during an early December morning. Elara didn't want it to continue moving, it would be quite a curse. "Keep still. Keep still." Finally, Buckbeak bowed at Harry and Elara let out a breathe. She felt the grasp Hermione's arm held on her loosen, and suddenly it felt as though her arm was colder without Hermione's warm grasp.

"Well done, Harry. Well done. Here, you big brute, you." He threw the creature some dead ferret. "Right. I think you can go and pat him now." The boy seemed quite timid when looking at the big creature. "Go on. Don't be shy. Nice and slow, now. Nice and slow. Slow." Hermione seemed more and more tense as the seconds grew into minutes. In Elara's eyes, it felt like watching a rebirth. It's nerve wracking, yet worth it in the end. "Not so fast, Harry. Slow down, Harry. That's it... Nice and slow."

Harry was cautious around the hippogriff, not the usual Harry James Potter who didn't care. He knew that one wrong move could be his very last. Elara's brown eyes narrowed at Buckbeak, admiring the beauty of the hippogriff who was now snapping his shiny beak at the Potter. Elara wished she was in his position, going up to the hippogriff who seemed exactly how Newt Scamander described them in his books he's written. Buckbeak was truly elegant and a sight to behold. The more Elara spent here, the more she realised why Hagrid was so passionate about magical creatures. "Now let him come to you.Slowly, now, slowly, slowly... That's it..." Harry's extended hand was now resting on the beak of Buckbeak. "Yes!" Elara felt the joy radiate from Hagrid who was beaming brightly at Harry. "Well done! Well done, Harry, well done!" Everyone felt the tension disperse, some letting out breathed, glad they had not witnessed a blood bath.

"I think he may let you ride him now."

"What?"

"Come on."

"Hey, hey, hey!"

"Put you over here, just behind the wing joint. Don't pull out any of his feathers, because he won't thank you for that." The giant explained. Then Harry was off, soaring around Hogwarts on the Hippogriff. It was so beautiful to withhold, everyone ogling at the sight. Elara envied that moment. She wished she could be on the hippogriff, soaring high so her cheeks could kiss the clouds and her hair could glide in the wind. When Hagrid called Buckbeak down, the creature came down with the swift movement of his wings and landed cautiously perfectly on his hooves. Elara and Hermione both turned to each other with a bright smile on their faces. Hermione's was filled with relief that Harry was fine, Elara's was filled with joy that they had gotten to witness such a sight.
"Well done, Harry, and well done, Buckbeak."

"Harry!" Elara said, in an exasperated breathe. She gave the boy a hug and a bright smile. "That was so-"

"Wicked!" Ron completed her. The two looked at each other with a smile and went back to fussing the boy who lived. He seemed very fond of the two, him laughing at them. Hermione joined in on the laugher and the whole group seemed to be in a land of their own. It was almost identical to Hogwarts, it was just absent of any other soul. That was, until the Slytherin Barbie decided to pull another, careless and completely idiotic stunt.

"Yes you're not dangerous at all, are you, you great ugly brute!" He, the pestiferous Slytherin whom Elara often found herself reframing from punching, insulted a proud hippogriff. He had chosen death in that moment, something he had wished on so many people. The claws of Buckbeak slashed him firmly when the beast freaked out. Elara felt worried for Buckbeak. Draco Malfoy wasn't exactly the best person when he had a father who's authority grew great in the ministry. Hagrid managed to calm Buckbeak down, but Draco Malfoy was already withering on the group, clutching his arm that was wounded "It's killed me! It's killed me!" The boy was being over dramatic and overplayed the entire situation as though he had just been stabbed over and over again by the talons.

"Hagrid! He has to be taken to the hospital." Hermione informed the teacher, she herself looked slightly concerned for the boy but wasn't too concerned.

"Oh You're gonna regret this."

"Class dismissed!"

"You and your bloody chicken!"

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I'm so so sorry for such a belated update. I'm starting online school tomorrow (today) and so I wanted to get this update out ASAP. I know this sucks, it ain't the best writing ever but I hope you find Elara's relationship with Hermione beautiful 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩. I'm gonna add this here though, Elara's personality is not that she is lesbian. There will be focus to her sexuality and her growing comfortable with it because she is a reflection on who i am as a person. The sexuality journey she goes though and her entire thought process is based on me personally and I hope that you can take something from it.

HELLO UPDATE FROM FUTURE
i'm trying to update more as you can see. not much is changing apart from small things.

anyways, go check out my other books such as my robin buckley fic, dancing queen.
i'm also probably gonna be publishing another robin fic soon !!

so be aware of that