CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
↳ elara the observer

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Elara Lily Lupin was a very observant little girl. From a young age, she'd notice how the dew drops on little floors that were planted outside her house would fall every 0.5 seconds, she'd notice how she saw a little ladybird, at the age of four, who had nine spots on her back, in fact, Elara's observations became even more prominent as she grew older. So naturally, she was a pretty good person to come to about certain details.

Right now it was only 7:50pm on a cold Thursday night. Elara was tucked away in an oversized yellow cardigan, her hair pulled up into a bun and a casual pair of jeans worn. The sky was dark and clouds infested the sky. Remus hadn't arrived yet, Elara could only assume he was getting what he needed to teach Harry the complicated Patronus charm. Elara knew a lot about Patronus'. They were oddly peculiar guardians, nonetheless that didn't stop people from being fascinated. She was too oddly fascinated with the splotches of dirt that laid in odd patterns on the ground. Her eyes followed them, connecting them like a puzzle.

Elara's feet were dangling off the edge of the table as she sat in Professor Binn's classroom. She waited until she heard the clock chime eight times. 8 o'clock. She mumbled some incoherent words under her breathe as she started fiddling with the skin on her hands.

Finally she heard someone stumble into the classroom. "Hi Harry!" Elara waved when she saw the messy haired boy stumble into the classroom awkwardly. "How are you?" She said in her usual happy tone. She quite liked being up and around somewhere that wasn't the Hufflepuff common rooms. It felt nice to be in a dingy old classroom that had cobwebs decorating the ceilings like how stars decorated the isolated night sky.

Harry waved at her and went to join her, sitting on the table. "Hi Lars, I'm good," he smiled politely at her. He was quite glad she was watching, her telling him only hours ago that she was joining them later. After waiting five minutes approximately ( Elara counted herself ), Elara's papa had arrived, carrying a large packing case, which he pulled onto Professor Binn's desk.

"What's that?" said Harry, curiously gazing at the packing case with curiosity.

Elara knew what it was. "It's a Boggart," she answered his question, her eyes glinting with recognition.

"Yes, Elara's right," Remus smiled at her. "It's a Boggart," he took off his cloak. "I've been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch's filing cabinet. It's the nearest we'll get to a real Dementor. The Boggart will turn into a Dementor when he sees you, so we'll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we're not using him; there's a cupboard under my desk he'll like."

"What if Harry doesn't find them scary any more and suddenly it's something else?" She asked curiously. Evidently, Remus hadn't thought of this and sent her a puzzled look as her words processed in his mind.

"Wha-"

"They still scare me," Harry spoke up, interrupting Remus. Remus nearly sighed in relief, glad that Voldemort wouldn't suddenly appear in the History of Magic classroom tonight. Elara noticed the apprehension cross his face for a split moment, but then it suddenly vanished .

"So..." Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, and indicated that Harry should do the same. "The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry - "

Elara's interrupted him. "Extremely advanced, well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm." If she had drawled on about it anymore, Remus would've shut her up, but she just added what he was going to add anyways.

"How does it work?" Harry asked, nervously.

"Well, when it works correctly, It conjures up a Patronus," said Lupin, "which is a kind of anti-Dementor - a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor." Elara knew all this stuff. When she was younger, her papa would entertain her with his patronus, a glorious wolf. The wispy, glowing wolf always made her smile and laugh, even in her saddest moments.
Before her other dad had gotten himself locked away in Azkaban for a false conviction, he would also entertain her with his patronus. A brilliant dog, matching his animagus form perfectly. The small baby would always try and grab onto the tail of the wisps, only for them to disappear between the tips of her fingers.

Her papa continued, "The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon - hope, happiness, the desire to survive - but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can't hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it." Elara silently snickered to herself. Too advanced for many yet you and your entire friendship group managed to successfully cast the Patronus at a young age.

"What does a Patronus look like?" Questioned Harry curiously.

"It's like an animal," Elara replied to his question. Remus nodded, not saying anything knowing very well that she knew more than the majority. "They're unique as they can take the form of an animal or a shield," she explained, smiling. Harry returned the smile, it was easing him a lot. "In order to cast a Patronus Charm, you have to say the incantation, Expecto Patronum, whilst thinking of a memory that made you unbelievably happy," After explaining, Elara saw a moment of happiness flash on his face. She hoped he wasn't thinking about something so basic as flying a broom.

"As Elara explained," Remus paused, sending a smile Elara's way. "The incantation is Expecto Patronum,"

"Expecto patronum," Harry repeated under his breath, Elara could head him muttering the incantation continuously, imbedding it in his mind. "expecto patronum."

"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?" Remus turned to the boy.

"Oh - yeah -" muttered Harry, quickly, his thoughts drifting back to the memory he knew was happy. "Expecto patrono - no, patronum - sorry - expecto patronum, expecto patronum"

Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas. "Did you see that?" said Harry excitedly. "Something happened!"

"Holy shi- I mean shoot," Elara quickly corrected herself when Remus sent her a stern glance. She rolled her eyes, knowing he was way worst with his language than anyone else. "That was bloody brilliant!"

"Very good," said Lupin, smiling as well. "Right, then - ready to try it on a Dementor?"

"Yes," Harry gripped his wand tightly in his hand. Elara sent him an encouraging smile, she hoped he wouldn't feel too distracted by the thought of hearing those painful screams again.

Remus sent him a glance, which went unnoticed to Harry who was still too caught up in his own thoughts. He grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled it open, the dementor rising out and it's hooded face glancing menacingly at Harry. Elara felt a wave of coldness wash throughout the classroom. She breathed out and focused on something else. The lights in the entire classroom flickered out and the room was shrouded in darkness, the being of fear itself becoming more prominent in the darkness. She felt pity for Harry as she watched him try and cast the spell. He finally collapsed onto the floor, Remus casting the boggart away into the box once more.

"Harry James Potter if you don't get up right now I'm slapping you," Elara warned, crouching besides his limb figure.

Remus shook his head at his daughter. "What have I told you about hitting people?" They have had many talks about her impulsive slapping habits. However, they weren't the most effective.

"You've told me many things, dearest papa," Elara smiled his way. "I just elected to ignore them," she heard Remus sigh out, shaking his head at her smiling figure. Finally, Harry had decided to awake, Elara breathing out in relief.

"Sorry," he muttered, sitting up and feeling cold sweat trickling down behind his glasses. To say he looked dreadful would be an understatement in Elara's opinion. She unconsciously bit her nail. Remus quickly tapped her hand, motioning her to stop biting her nails. It was a nasty habit she had, however she was trying to stop and Remus knew that very well.

"Are you all right?" Asked Remus, concern intertwined in his voice.

"He just experiences a dementor again, Papa I don't think he's gonna be 100% peachy," Elara turned to him. Remus gave her a stern look to shush her. "Okay sorry,"

"Yes..." Harry mumbled, almost stuck in a. daze. Elara offered her hand to Harry, which he took gratefully. He managed to pull himself up so he was now sitting up on the floor.

"Here -" Lupin passed him a Chocolate Frog. "Eat this before we try again. I didn't expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had." Elara cringed. Silently, she wished he offered a bit more help with the incantation beforehand. Maybe Harry wouldn't be looking as though he had been on death's door.

"It's getting worse," Harry muttered, chewing off the head of the chocolate frog. Remus passed Elara some Dairy milk chocolate he kept in his pocket. He knew she preferred muggle chocolate over wizards chocolate any day of the week. "I could hear her louder that time - and him - Voldemort -"

Elara's let out a shaky breathe, she hated when people actually said his name. Although, she admired Harry for being able to say it without any fear. Despite the two encounters he's had that he can remember, he still can say the name of his parents' murderer. For that, Harry would always have Elara's respect. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, rubbing it. "It's okay," she mumbled quietly. She wished her words were more reassuring.

Elara noticed how pale her papa looked, his breathing slightly disturbed. Quickly, Remus composed himself. "Harry, if you don't want to continue, I will more than understand -"

"I do!" Interrupted Harry fiercely, giving Remus a stern look that portrayed his determination. "I've got to! What if the Dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can't afford to fall off again. If we lose this game we've lost the Quidditch Cup!"

Elara felt like smacking him. Prioritising Quidditch over his mental well being. She could only roll her eyes and refrain from hitting him. "Harry, I'm pretty certain those dementors won't be coming back any time soon! Professor Dumbledore was fuming last time! Do you honestly think they'll be foolish enough to come back?" She scoffed.

"There's still an if El! For all you know, they could just come as they please! I don't want to make the team lose again," Harry said, glaring at Elara. He huffed out in agitation. He truly did feel guilty about their lose to Hufflepuff and no amount of reassurance would make the guilt vanish.

"All right then..." said Remus, awkwardly. The whole scenery looked similar to the time he had scolded James for attempting to play Quidditch while he had the flu. James, of course, was stubborn and in the end he played Quidditch even when he was spewing on the field. That wasn't exactly the pleasantest thing, especially when a Slytherin was coated in his spew. Although, Sirius did find it amusing and was cheering James on. "You might want to select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to concentrate on... That one doesn't seem to have been strong enough..."

Elara watched as Harry stared for a moment, thinking distantly of something that would be powerful enough to produce a patronus. She hoped it would be something that was happy, he needed to actually envision the joy and let it course through his body. She sent him a small smile, standing up and propping herself onto the desk, sitting down.

"Ready?" said Lupin, gripping the box lid.

"Ready," said Harry; trying hard to fill his head with happy thoughts about Gryffindor winning, and not dark thoughts about what was going to happen when the box opened. Elara held hope in her grip, hoping he'd accomplish his goal of producing a distinctive patronus. Elara was very hopeful that he would, although Patronus' were unbelievably complicated. It was no easy task to produce one due to the fact one happy memory can easily fall apart with the blink of an eye.

"Go!" said her papa, pulling off the lid. Elara let out a shaky breathe, hands rubbing together to create some friction as the room was frozen once more. She blinked a few times, watching as Harry began trying to summon his patronus. Soon enough, just like every time beforehand, Harry crumbled to the ground and Remus immediately bellowed out 'Riddikulus' forcing the Boggart into the box once more, rendering it helpless.

Elara crouched on the ground, her brown eyes wide and occupied by severe worry for the boy who wasn't having the best time in the world. "He seriously needs to stop fainting or we are going to have issues,"

"Elara you are not hitting him," Remus warned her, already noticing how her hand twitched slightly. "Leave the poor boy to wake up on his own," Remus knew very well how stubborn she was, yet he didn't realise her worry for her friend held back this stubbornness as she watched with sympathy as he laid helplessly on the ground. In fact, Elara's worry was the only thing that corrupted her mind at that moment.

So, instead of hitting him, Elara took a less violent resort and started tapping him continuously on his face. Elara's papa sighed knowing this was the next best thing to Elara. "Harry! Harry... wake up," she aggressively tapped her fingers on his face. Finally, Harry stirred and awoke, his emerald eyes opening to meet Elara's worrisome brown ones. "Oh thank Helga you're fine," she sighed in relief.

"I heard my dad," Harry mumbled out, frowning slightly. He looked extremely shaken up. "That's the first time I've ever heard him - he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it..." Elara noticed tears were running down his face, mingling with the sweat that beaded down as well. She gave him a sympathetic smile, the boy hanging his head low in the effort to conceal the weakness he felt in the heat of the moment. Elara reached into her pocket and grabbed a tissue, offering it to him with an encouraging smile. He grabbed it and sent her a thankful glance and wiped his nose and eyes quickly.

"You heard James?" Elara looked and noticed just how wide and dazed her papa looked. She scoffed to herself. If my best friend's son was talking about how he heard his dad's screams, I'd be crying.

"Yeah..." handing her the tissue back, Harry looked up and inspected his teacher more carefully. "Why - you didn't know my dad, did you?"

"I - I did, as a matter of fact," said Remus, stuttering slightly as he tried to grasp onto his words. "We were friends at Hogwarts. Listen, Harry - perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced... I shouldn't have suggested putting you through this..."

A look of determination crossed Harry's face. "No!" He objected. He stood up quickly. "I'll have one more go! I'm not thinking of happy enough things, that's what it is... hang on..."
Elara felt pity for him. She wished she could be at some use. But, in the end she was just a bystander and bystanders weren't overly useful.

Harry got to his feet and faced the packing case once more. Elara looked wearily at the packing case, standing further back so she wouldn't interrupt. She just hoped he'd finally do it.

"Ready?" Asked her papa, he seemed quick cautious, a flash of worry crossing his scarred face as he stared at his dead best friend's son.
"Concentrating hard? All right - go!" The lid of the packing case came off and the room was, once again for the third time, enveloped in the usual bitter coldness that wasn't at all pleasant or comforting. Elara pursed her lips and watched.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry bellowed. "EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Elara was too preoccupied by her worry to pay proper attention. She didn't notice how beads of sweat lined on his forehead, nor how his eyes collected tears. However she did notice a huge, silver shadow escaping out of the end of Harry's wand, stepping between him and the dementor. She breathed out a breathe of relief, a smile washing over her features. It wasn't a proper Patronus, but it was a shield and that was more than enough.

"Riddikulus!" belted Remus, springing forward and stepping out in front of Harry to get rid of the Boggart. A loud crack sounded in the room and the Boggart fled to the confinement's of the dark box, stealing the Patronus with it. Elara watched as her papa's boggart formed once again and soon ran into the box, the lid shut with a loud bang.

"Excellent!" Remus exclaimed. "Excellent, Harry! That was definitely a start!" Elara walked over by Harry giving him a warm smile. Happiness swelled in her heart for her friend who seemed quite pleased with himself.

"Can we have another go? Just one more go?"

Elara gave him an incredulous look. "Harry three times is more than enough!" She slapped in on the arm, Remus didn't even object as she had a point.

"Not now," said Lupin firmly. "You've had enough for one night. Here -" He handed Harry a large bar of Honeydukes' best chocolate. " Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. Same time next week?"

"Poppy sure has got taste in her medicine," Elara commented. Remus gave her a smile, looking nostalgically at her when she said those words. They were the exact same words Sirius said to him nearly two decades ago when Madame Pomfrey handed him a chocolate frog to help him feel better after a transformation.

"Okay," muttered Harry, indulging on the chocolate whilst Elara was swinging her legs back and forth recklessly. "Professor Lupin?" he queried. "If you knew my dad, you must've known Sirius Black as well."

Of course, Elara has told him how they dated and collectively adopted her when she was a baby, but Harry needed to hear him say it.

Remus turned very abruptly, eyes wide. He sent Elara a glance, the girl shrugging her shoulder. "What gives you that idea?" he asked quickly
.
"Nothing - I mean, I just knew they were friends at Hogwarts too..."

Remus' face significantly relaxed. "Yes, I knew him," he started, looking down slightly. "Or I thought I did. You'd better be off, Harry, it's getting late." Remus looked towards Elara. "You too little moon, here," he passed her some more Cadbury's chocolate.

"Thanks papa!" She kissed him on the cheek, skipping out of the dingy classroom wondering where Harry had wondered off to. For a while, she curiously glanced around the corridors of Hogwarts, passing many portraits. Finally, she came across a very sullen Harry James Potter who was mumbling to himself. "Harry!" She smiled, cheerful to see her friend. Although, soon that smile turned into a frown. "Harry, what's wrong?" Harry stared at her, looking extremely vulnerable. She noticed how his shoulders shook slightly and his eyes filled with some tears. He didn't need to justify why he felt as he did. He just needs a hug. Elara thought to herself. She tightly hugged Harry, squeezing him and finally letting go.

"If you ever want to talk about what you've been hearing, I'm always here," she smiled at him, slowly leaving the boy who lives alone as she skipped further and further away into the dark corridors. He watched as her figure was tightly wrapped in the darkness and smiled. She was such a brilliant friend and he would always be grateful she was in his life.

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Remus: fuck you my child's completely fine
Elara: ** prioritising everyone but herself, bringing spiders home with her, caring for her criminal father secretly and having impulsive hitting moments **

So like, if you haven't noticed, this is following the book layout now. When I started writing, I didn't own the Harry Potter books and I had read them years prior. But for Christmas my parents got me the entire book series so now I'm starting the fourth book.

I liked both poa in the film and book and so like both will have prominence.

Also it's my birthday in a few days on Friday and my parents asked me what I wanted so I think they're buying me a record player and I've always wanted a record player.