CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
↳ hogsmede and busted

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒
The next day was Monday and Elara Lily Lupin decided that she owed Ron Weasley an apology. It was simply that. She felt awful when she went to bed the night before classes would start again on the Monday. Not only had she acted mean and unjust to him, but she also physically harmed him ( by stepping on his toes but no matter how minor that was, it was still hurting someone which made Elara feel very very very guilty ). So after they had finished their final lesson of the day, Elara went to go and apologise.

"Hey, Ron," Ron shuffled awkwardly looking at Elara. He still remained guilty for what he said to her and the look of shock in her eyes when he said that plagued him. The Weasley waved at her, failing to meet her alluring brown eyes as she spoke to him. "I owe you an apology," she admitted, looking down at her feet which were now extremely interesting.

Ron looked taken aback for a split second. He didn't deserve an apology, not after what he said to her. He had known Elara for years, even when her last name was still Lupin-Black. The fact he treated her so horribly was... inexcusable. "No, El, I owe you an apology,"

Elara squinted up at him. "No, I owe you an apology," she huffed out, rubbing her nose with the behind of her left hand. "Listen, what I said about him wasn't the nicest and I was just so upset and I took it out on you. I had no right to do that and I'm sorry," she smiled at him. Ron's shoulders deflated massively as he noticed that she truly was sorry. He had never heard her apologise before. It wasn't because she was apathetic, it was because she never had anything to apologise for. "I hope you can forgive me," she looked down onto the floor, her hands folded in front of her. Before she could turn away to go elsewhere, Ron suddenly embraced her tightly. She let out a shocked gasp, nevertheless, she returned the hug.

Ron was very much taller than her. In comparison, he was gigantic in comparison how short she was. His whole family were very tall. Elara had no clue who her biological parents were, but from the guesses of her height, they were pretty much short as hell. "El, you're my best friend, of course I can forgive you," he muttered softly. It felt nice knowing she hadn't lost a friend in a pathetic way.

Harry James Potter was also there, shuffling a lot while he watched the scene take place. "Uh guys I hate feeling like the third wheel, you know?" Elara breathed out, rolling her eyes. Of course, he'd be the third wheel. She motioned for the Potter to join their hug and the trio, which felt incomplete without Hermione, ( she had decided to go finish off some extra work and was most likely stressed out of her mind ), embraced warmly. Throughout her life, Elara knew that life's greatest pleasures were from love and friendship. She understood the feeling of ebullience as it coursed through your blood when around friends and family. This was one of those moments filled with a sense of ebullience. Ebullience, what a beautiful word. It brings people together and is something even the deadliest of fiends once longed for. In these moments of joy, Elara was truly grateful she had such loving friends. Ron, Harry, Cedric, Wisteria, Gaia, Lois, Morgan, Daphne- Hermione . She smiled. she was truly happy that they were her friends.

Soon Harry and Ron broke the news that Buckbeak's trial was going ahead soon and that Hagrid had talked to them about Hermione. Elara felt like smacking Ron for how he ranted about Crookshanks being a complete beast and defending a grown man. Ew. Thinking about how Pettigrew had taken advantage of the Weasley family in order to frame her dad was repulsive and she couldn't imagine how Ron would act when he'd learn the truth. She couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Hagrid though. He was the literal version of the BFG, well a smaller but still tall BFG. He didn't deserve any of the pain he was enduring because of a simple mistake. Elara could only anticipate for the ministry to realise his mistake and grant Buckbeak his life.

The trio had decided they'd all go to Hogsmede during the weekend, after all there was another trip going on. Elara couldn't help but laugh thinking about how Cedric would react. No doubt, he'd beg her to go with him. She just hoped that the weekend would be uneventful and tranquil, because at the moment life at Hogwarts was far from typical. Elara thought for a moment. They go to a magical school, when will life ever be normal?

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

As expected, Cedric actually reacted as predicted. Elara felt like she was a seer with how predictable life was, but then the realisation that Cedric was just so easy to read hit her like the Hogwarts Express. In fact, right now she was dealing with him. "Elara please, please please, please, please!" Cedric was once again following Elara around like a lost puppy, repeating the word 'please' as though it was nothing but a piece of sacred text. Cedric was once again watching Elara, his eyes screaming at her to listen.

Elara turned herself so she was now looking at him. "Ced, please, I need to hang out with them," she turned to where Daphne was holding Pepper, giving her a pleading glance. "Daph, can you please control him?"

Daphne was sitting on the big massive chair in the common rooms, witnessing the whole thing. She raised a glass of water to her mouth, taking a large sip out of it and then spoke. "He'll be dead before any of us can control him," the redhead joked, rolling her eyes. She brushed some hair behind her ear as Pepper tried grabbing her shiny hairpin. "I can't have any good things," she sighed out as the niffler awed at the shiny object that she was now handed. "Where's Wis?" Daphne asked, confused on why the small first year wasn't squealing at the tiny niffler.

"Exactly where Laurie is," Elara turned and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know,"

Daphne rolled her eyes, giving a grin. "Oh wow, so useful," she raised the glass jokingly.

Elara bowed, almost as though the Queen was right in front of her. "I know," Elara said, not realising that Daphne was being sarcastic. She was sectioning her hair off so she could go and get ready for a shower and then plait her hair.

"El, that was sarcasm,"

"Oh," she closed her eyes nodding. "I knew that,"

"No you didn't," Elara nodded again.

Cedric grabbed Elara's arms. "Oh come on! I'll be dead before we go to Hogsmede together again!" Elara laughed out with a smile and hit his arm jokingly. "Oi where are you going?" Elara was walking away from him, the boy chasing after her. "C'mon Larie!"

"I'm going to shower thank you," she turned towards him. "I recommend you do the exact same,"

"I don't-" he smelled under his armpits and cringed. "You know what, I do,"

Daphne snorted. "Obviously, you smell worst than Pepper does when she hasn't had a bath in a month," Pepper snarled at her. She gave Cedric a grin and sympathised with the Niffler. "I'm sorry Pepper. Comparing Cedric to you is animal cruelty!"

"It's Cedric cruelty," the tall Hufflepuff emphasised. "C. E. D. R. I. C,"

"Wow he can actually spell," Elara mused. "Want us to put it on a grave for you?" She nudged his shoulder grinning like a Cheshire cat. Cedric huffed out and then locked her head in a headlock and rubbed his fist on her head playfully, exactly how a brother would do to a younger sibling. Elara laughed out, pushing him off her and shaking her head. "No harming the hair!"

"Sorry, it's not like I consider how my victim looks when I want them to die," Elara huffed out, brushing the strands of hair out of her face and behind her ears. "I wonder how villains think,"

"Imagine a villain putting their toes on your face," the younger girl joked. She cringed slightly and her insides turned slightly. Why did she think that of all things? "Honestly, I wonder what they do think as well," she thought for a moment. "Corrupt your son who doesn't know you're the father into joining the dark side?"

"El, you basically explained Star Wars," Cedric shook his head. "I still can't believe he's Luke's father," he whispered in a hushed voice.

Elara hit his side. "Don't you realise 'Darth Vader' literally hinted he was Luke's father because 'Vader' is literally means 'father' in German?" Cedric shook his head. "So anyways, this just adds to my 'why Cedric is not a Ravenclaw' chart," Daphne snorted loudly. "Let me just tell you, Mark Hamill's acting was bloody brilliant! And oh my god Carrie Fisher is amazing and such a cultural reset," she pointed his index finger up, pressing her lips together as she thought about the muggle actress.

"Have you seen Mark Hamill?" Cedric ushered, squealing slightly. "Honesty, I'd die for him, not being dramatic or anything," despite how Cedric was a pureblood, Elara had graciously shown him the muggle franchise during the Summer after her first year. It happened when she learnt he had never seen a single Star Wars film, which was 'disgraceful and uncultured'. So naturally, she forced him to watch them and he enjoyed them.
It was also one of the ways he and Morgan got together, their first date was literally seeing the screening of the first film. They can officially thank Mark Hamill for that and believe me they did when they wanted to owl him a letter but then Elara explained how they couldn't do that because he is a muggle.

"If he's a muggle then how the hell is he so attractive?"

"Believe me, I've been asking myself the same question about Carrie Fisher,"

"Cedric," Elara breathed out. "If you didn't want to die for Mark Hamill then you'd be insane," she laughed out. "Honesty can we agree Star Wars was a cultural reset?" Cedric nodded. When Elara was growing up, while her papa didn't have much money in regards to the Wizarding world's standard, he did have some in Muggle society. It was fortunate you didn't need to inform your employer about the possibility of being inflicted with Lycanthropy in the Muggle world and luckily Remus had managed to get his dad to forge some doctor's notes about his apparent 'poor immune system'. Muggles were somehow oblivious so they never worked out how coincidental it was that whenever the moon was full then he'd be sick. So during the summer's and whenever he felt well enough, he'd take his daughter to go see some films. Whether it was Disney or something else, didn't matter because the look of awe that was printed on Elara's face was beautiful . Bamps was absolutely amazing when it came to everything. He'd watch over Elara when she was younger and helped teach her show to read and write and also showed her how bandaged worked ( of course he was hesitant but the eight year old was relentlessly stubborn and showed an interest in it and helping her dad ). He was wonderful and he loved spending his time with his granddaughter, it made life even better when he got to hear her squeals and laughter. He was actually the first person to take her to see a Star Wars screening when they decided to have a showing of the first film in the local cinema when she was ten.

Naturally, this became a Lupin tradition and whenever Elara came home for the summer he'd take her to see a Star Wars film and he even started buying her Star Wars merchandise which she absolutely adored. Her absolute favourite character was Leia and also Hans and she loved the chemistry they had.

"How about this," Cedric sighed. "I let you go to Hogsmede with your friends and during the Summer we go see another Star Wars film and Grease since we still haven't seen it together and I spend a few days at your house with the rest of the group," he brought his hand out for her to shake. "Truce?"

Elara's grabbed onto his hand and shook it. "I am surprised you know what a truce is," Elara squealed out as she ran and before he could even grab her she ran up to her room and Cedric followed, forgetting the staircase was enchanted and fell down the stairs with a great yelp as the steps evolved into a slanted floor. He saw the girl stick her middle fingers at him with her tongue sticking out of her smirking mouth. He rolled his eyes at her and stuck his middle finger out at her as well.

Nearby Daphne sighed out, shaking her head at the pair who bickered constantly for laughs. She pulled her red locks away from her face, clapping her hands at the pair. "Why do I even hang out with them?" She muttered to Pepper who was tilting her head at the Scamander. Soon the Niffler shrugged at her. "Me too, Pep, me too,"

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

There were many things in life Elara Lupin questioned.

1. She questioned how to hell some wizards can survive without muggle content.
2. She always wondered how the killing curse was created ( she had a 3am conversation with Cedric about it, all about how they even came up with the spell itself "imagine he was trying to heal their friend or something and then killed them. Such a poetic story" )
3. She questioned why Carrie Fisher was so pretty along with Jennifer Grey who portrayed one of her favourite film characters 'Baby' in Dirty Dancing.
4. And finally she questioned whether or not Harry James Potter would ever stop being reckless and doing stuff that would mess him up.

Today was one of those days she was questioning point number four. "Now are you 100% certain you won't get caught?" She was hanging out with them in the morning before Hogsmede, eating some toast that was generously decorated with some strawberry jam. She took a bite and brought her glass of orange juice up to her mouth, taking a swig of it.

"Don't worry, I won't," he laughed out, also taking a bite out his toast. "If I can do it once, I'm sure I can do it again," Little did he know, that today would not be like last time. Hermione was sitting opposite Elara and was clearly enjoying her bacon and eggs. She wasn't that keen on Harry once again going to Hogsmede, but Elara had begged her to keep quiet about the Invisibility Cloak as it meant to much to Harry due to it belonging to his father.

"Hermione, you enjoying your bacon and eggs?" Hermione looked up, meeting Elara's blinking gaze. She didn't answer for a moment, breathing out and admiring how tranquil her eyes looked. Elara's blinking gaze enthralled her and was only broken when Elara snapped her fingers in front of Hermione. "Earth to Hermione? Hello?"

"Oh- I- yeah they're quite nice," the bushy haired teen stuttered out, not expecting the Hufflepuff to realise her unprecedented stare. "The bacon and eggs- I mean," Elara let out some laughter and a smile formed on her soft, glossy pink lips.

"Are you feeling good today?" She asked, oblivious for a moment. "Your face, it's red," she pointed out, obliviously at the fact that Hermione was blushing for a particular reason. Elara took another bite out of her toast, the sipped her orange juice and offered a smile. Hermione was still blushing now and she couldn't speak any words to the brown skinned girl who's eyes were glinting with an array of mischief and wonder. "I'm assuming you're going to the library instead of Hogsmede?"

Hermione placed her cutlery on her plate and nodded. "Yeah I am," Elara nodded as she took a swig of her drink once again. "I'm assuming you're going with the boys?"

"If that wasn't established earlier then I guess I am," the pair laughed softly. Despite how early it was, they could always find something to laugh at. "Please tell me you'll get some sleep?"

Hermione looked at her pitifully. "El..."

"No 'Mione you can't keep pressuring yourself all the time," she said sternly. "Do your work in sections. Twenty minutes, break for five minutes, as such," Elara reached out and grabbed Hermione's hand. Hermione couldn't help but think about how warm her hands were. So soft, so gentle. "I don't want you stressing, I've read it isn't good for the heart,"

Hermione could tell she was blushing now. Her face felt warm and her breathing hitched as she studied Elara's face. The soft scars that littered her face from bites she had received from animals, some of the acne that scarred her skin, the plumpness of her rosy lips, everything about Elara seemed perfect. Her honey eyes illuminated in even the darkest corners stood out, her cheeks always had a rosy tint to them from blush the girl loved to apply whenever she had the chance. She never went for over the top looks, just lip gloss and blush and it always looked natural. Nevertheless, no amount of makeup would ever hide away her true naturalism she held. Her skin was always unpredictable, especially during winter so her acne wasn't the world's best but she just loved herself like how a girl should. Hermione admired that a lot. Elara seemed so uplifting and motivational and that inspired Hermione a lot.

Elara just seemed so admirable and Hermione loved that. Smart, helpful, kind, Hermione couldn't help but fall for the Lupin girl and everything about her. How she always sat crisscrossed, how she loved styling peoples' hair for fun and practiced it constantly when bored, how she read upside down whenever she felt like it, Elara Lily Lupin was truly something else. She was just like everyone else, her mannerisms, her interests, but to Hermione she was the only person who really mattered. The world could disappear but as long as Elara was still alive then everything would be blissful and compelling.

"Holy Helga! I haven't told you about what happened yesterday!" The Lupin exclaimed and went on about her friends. Hermione always listened. She loved hearing her soft voice laugh about her friends doing something stupid. Hearing Elara laugh soothed Hermione, it made her wish Elara was whispering Shakespeare sonnets into the frail winds in the countryside for only her ears to hear. It made Hermione wish Elara was mumbling 'Little Women' elegantly. The way Elara's voice carried itself was like a graceful dove, gliding through and through, peaceful and unharmed. Innocent. Her ranting could go for hours but Hermione would never get bored. Hermione would never get sick of hearing the sounds of her lace like voice as it hypnotised her endlessly. Hermione would never wish for Elara Lupin to stop, not even when the world stopped spinning. However, Elara did stop when it came time for them to leave for Hogsmede.

Hermione noticed how stubborn she was, constantly asking if she was very son she didn't want to come. "Yes, I'll be fine," she pushed the girl away.

Elara pouted at her and then turned away, running to follow Ron and called out to Hermione. "I'll bring you some chocolate frogs!" The bushy haired Gryffindor couldn't even object before the girl disappeared around the corner leaving her all alone with just her thoughts.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒

"Harry please tell me you're certain you won't get in trouble," Elara crossed her arms at him once more. It was just before she and Ron would leave and meet him up in Honeydukes and she felt nervous thinking about all the possibilities. "There are so many possibilities and it's just-"

Harry cut her off. "Stop stressing, I'll be fine," he really didn't like seeing her stressed. She was an amazing friend, she just always got stressed and it didn't suit her at all. Sometimes, she'd be this bright, cheerful girl and then it would be almost like a switch had flipped and she'd be worried and nervous. They were all stood outside the entrance, Ron and Elara preparing to leave. Harry would meet them up in a shop and he'd remain hidden.

"Come one Lara, we've got to go see some of the sweets in Honeydukes," Ron grabbed onto the Hufflepuff and pulled her away, their arms intertwined as the two skipped away happily. "You really shouldn't worry he'll be fine," Ron dismissed. Although Elara had a feeling something unexpected would happen. She didn't really know what exactly it felt like. But she felt as though she knew exactly what was happening and it was slightly scary.

She was still nervous, but soon placed those nerves away and hid them "I'm sure you're right," she didn't want to think too much of it. The worst case scenario was the map being taken away from Harry, but Fred and George had managed to keep it hidden for years, there was no way they'd end up getting it taken. So, today she left her worries away and acted how she usually acted: carefree. The two decided to go into Honeydukes, Elara gratefully purchasing five chocolate frogs for herself which she decided she'd save for her chocolage stash. She still hadn't forgiven Cedric fully for getting Lois to steal her food.

When the two third years stood outside, Elara felt someone poke her back and turned around. No one was there. She shrugged it off and went off to putting her food into her bag. Then she heard someone sigh out and she knew that it was Harry who had poked her back. Besides her, Ron had jumped slightly and she heard Harry's voice. "It's me," he muttered, alerting the pair who now looked slightly shocked but also not that shocked.

"What kept you?" Ron out, his voice low and hushed up.

"Snape was hanging around."

Elara mused besides him ( at least where she thought he was ). "Slimey git's nose is too large to stay out of people's way," Ron and Harry both snickered.

They set off up the High Street, Elara happily skipping besides Ron who kept muttering about how strange this all was. Sometimes she'd accidentally step on Harry's foot, one time nearly tripping him up. The Potter let out a whine, asking her to stop stepping in his toes every two minutes. "Oh be quiet! At least you can see where you are going! I can't even see you!" She sneered out, hitting the air where she assumed Harry was. Although, to bystanders, she looked absolutely insane.

They went to the post office; Ron pretended to be checking the price of an owl to Bill in Egypt so that Harry could have a good look around. Elara seemed fascinated with the owls, some flying near her. She felt glad that Prince wasn't near. Awful thing, he was. Always being a brat and expecting everything from the,. The smaller ones were so adorable and Elara felt in awe as she stared around them. If she could trade Prince for one of them, she would.

Zonko's was by far Elara's favourite, standing next to Honeydukes in her rankings of shops in Hogsmede. There were a great amount of students, all roaring with thrills as they walked around the joke shop. Elara had generously purchased herself some Dungbombs, not wanted to waste a lot of her money in one go. She didn't have an exceptional amount of money, but if sufficed and felt nice to spend money on her own accord.

The day was breezy and kind, the wind gently brushing their skins and the warmth nice and soothing. Elara loved it. The dewdrops on leaves spluttered onto the ground ever few minutes and it seemed beautiful. The sky was clouded, some blue peering out and greeting them along with the sun. Elara, Ron and Harry all wandered up the slope that led to where the Shrieking Shack occupied. It was the most haunted dwelling in Britain, but Elara knew the only paranormal activity in the shack was the occasional screams he family family werewolf that now lived in Oxfordshire along with his adopted daughter. It was really humorous when Elara learnt about the Shack burnt viewed as such a horrible bringer of fear when actually the 'bringer of fear' was just a poor werewolf. The shack was dingy and old, the windows bordered up and the overgrown garden looking like it always did. The wild flowers grew dangerously on the outskirts and occupied every bit of the shack generously.

"Even the Hogwarts ghosts avoid it," said Ron as they leaned on the fence, looking up at it. Elara snorted at the irony that ghosts were afraid of the supposed haunted place. Perhaps they knew her papa was a werewolf and respected that, or maybe they didn't. Elara doubted Peeves knew, he would've gossiped it by now. "I asked Nearly Headless Nick... he says he's heard a very rough crowd lives here. No one can get in. Fred and George tried, obviously, but all the entrances are sealed shut..."

"Kind of ironic that ghosts are afraid of the supposed most haunted place in Britain," Elara spoke up, the snickers from her friends making her smirk widen. However, soon she frowned when she heart Draco Malfoy's obnoxious voice. She grimaced, wishing there was a mute button on the horrible Slytherin. The Slytherin Barbie had appeared, followed closely by Crabbe and Goyle, his practical minions. However, they were more or less sorry excused for side characters. What a waste of parchment. Elara thought bitterly.

Malfoy was speaking."... should have an owl from Father any time now. He had to go to the hearing to tell them about my arm... about how I couldn't use it for three months..."
Crabbe and Goyle sniggered besides the bleach blonde haired boy. Elara sighed audibly. He was clearly a horrible liar, even she'd see through his facade. "I really wish I could hear that great hairy moron trying to defend himself... 'There's no 'arm in 'im, 'onest -'... That Hippogriff's as good as dead -" he looked dead straight at the two. Elara wished looks could kill, maybe then he'd actually accomplish something.

"What are you doing, Weasley? Lupin?" His eyes wandered off, looking behind the two.
"Suppose you'd love to live here, wouldn't you, Weasley? Dreaming about having your own bedroom? I heard your family all sleep in one room - is that true?"

"Shut your mouth Malfoy!" Elara called out. "Where's mummy? Too busy trying to get your bottle?"

The boy sneered at Elara. "I would say you'd dream of living here, but from the looks of your dead old papa, you can't even afford proper clothes or even cleaning products," he gestured to her old, worn out sweater. "No wonder you smell awful all the time, probably live in a dump,"

Elara was really tempted to march over to the boy and slap him, however Ron's firm grasp on her kept her from doing that. "Come on Ron!" She hissed out. "I'm sure you've wanted to knock some sense into him,"

"Just wait a second," he mumbled quietly.

"We were just discussing your friend Hagrid," Malfoy said to Ron and Elara. "Just trying to imagine what he's saying to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. D'you think he'll cry when they cut off his Hippogriff's -" Elara's breathe hitched and she looked at his now brown covered head. Her mouth widened, agape as the Slytherin's pale hand reached up to touch where the mud landed.

"What the -?"

Ron had to hold onto the fence to keep himself standing, he was laughing so hard. Elara was openly snorting at how ridiculous he looked. This definitely would be a Patronus worthy memory. Crabbe, and Goyle spun stupidly on the spot, staring wildly around, Malfoy trying to wipe his hair clean.

"What was that? Who did that?"

"Very haunted up here, isn't it?" Enlightened Ron, casually. Elara snickered behind him.

"What's wrong Malfoy? Too scared of the dirt?" She sniggered to herself as the boy looked mortified at her. He looked so pitiful, but never would have her pity. He didn't deserve it.

The three Slytherin's all looked absolutely crazy as they looked wildly around. More and more mud splattered on them all, much to their dismay and Ron and Elara's joy. It was really amazing. Too amazing.

"It came from over there!" said Malfoy, wiping his face with disgust. Elara smirked and reached into her jean pocket, grabbing some rocks that she always kept there. While Crabbe's head was turned around, she launched a rock at the back of his head. She felt sorry for the rock, but enjoyed as the much bigger boy helped in shock.

Soon enough, the boy turned towards the pair and tried going at them. However something pulled him to the ground. Just as Crabbe stumbled forward, his humongous foot caught onto what Elara assumed was Harry's cloak. Because as soon as the larger Slytherin fell, Harry Potter's head stood out like a deer caught in headlight.

"Holy-" Elara gasped out. Soon enough Draco Malfoy exclaimed at the head that stood out in the middle of the air and ran as fast as he could, pathetically running down the hill, Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

"Harry!" Ron said, pale and shocked. If anything, the most likely person that Malfoy would go to was Snape, a vile teacher who despised Harry a lot. This could mean a lot of things, all those consequences pointing at the map or the cloak being taken."you'd better run for it! If Malfoy tells anyone - you'd better get back to the castle, quick -"

"You better go quick, I'm betting my life they'll go to Snape and we all know that that twat ain't going to be all sunshine's and rainbows," Elara warned. Harry looked at her warily. "If you want to keep the cloak and map, you better skedaddle,"

"See you later," said Harry, and without another word, and disappear off. Elara and Ron both turned to each other, still processing the events that happened beforehand.

"Did that-"

"Really happen?"

Elara finally broke eye contact, snorting. "I- really can't believe that! Did you see the look on his face?" She wheezed out. Ron looked up at her and noticed the tears in her eyes as she laughed. "'Oh look at me! I'm Draco Malfoy! Mummy adds blush to my face so I don't always look dead!' I really can't take him seriously," the Hufflepuff absolutely despised Draco Malfoy and this whole event ( minus Harry being exposed but Elara hoped that it would be solved soon enough ) so this was truly a moment to remember. She finally calmed down. "I think- we better go," she managed to get out, grabbing onto the ginger haired boy's hand. The pair rushed down the hill, their feet pelting against the ground ferociously as they followed to aid their friend. So many things crossed through Elara's head. She thought about how familiar this all was, how she was most likely going to fall any second-

"SHIT!" She cried out when her knee scrapped against the floor. She moaned out in pain, not knowing whether or not her skin was badly damaged or not. Regardless, it hurt like a bitch. "That's definitely going to scar," she winced out. Ron had offered his hand to her, lifting the smaller girl up easily. Elara mumbled a small 'thank you' and scrambled away ( although it looked as though she was limbing ). Still, she managed to keep in line with Ron, who was panting and clearly exhausted. The two continued to run, running into the courtyard and finally down the halls.

Conveniently, Elara and Ron bursted into the office, Harry looking at Elara with confusion ( she had mouthed to him 'I fell on my knee because of you' ). Remus was also looking mildly amused at her, realising that she was somehow involved. Ron seemed to be still panting, Elara rubbing his back, almost as though he was choking. " I - gave - Harry - that - stuff," he choked. "Bought - it... in Zonko's... ages - ago..." he managed to wheeze out. Elara, who was stood directly besides him, shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Well!" The teacher said , clapping his hands together, holding back from giving Snape a smirk. "That seems to clear that up! Severus, I'll take this back, shall I?" He grasper onto the marauders map and took it away. "Harry, Elara, Ron, come with me, I need a word about my vampire essay - excuse us, Severus -"

"Oh shit," Elara snorted, covering it with a cough. Remus gave her an amused glance, trying to look slightly disappointed but failing to do so. "Did I say something? You must be hearing stuff papa," she dismissed. Remus huffed out. The man turned to Harry, giving him a stern glance as the boy started stuttering out:

"Professor, I -"

"I don't want to hear explanations," said Remus sharply. His eyes darted around, peering to make sure no unexpected listeners were trying to scout for extra information. "I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago. Yes, I know it's a map," Elara looked extremely amused with her arms covered around her chest. Oh really? I never knew. She thought sarcastically. "I don't want to know how it fell into your possession. I am, however, astounded that you didn't hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. And I can't let you have it back, Harry."

"Why did Snape think I'd got it from the manufacturers?"

"Because..." Lupin hesitated for a split second. You could see the slight questioning in his eyes. "Because these mapmakers would have wanted to lure you out of school. They'd think it extremely entertaining."

"Do you know them?" Asked Harry, shortly following the older man's explanation. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly.

"We've met," he said quickly. Elara was nodding her head, her lips pressed together and her hands on her waist as she thought how funny this all was. Of course they've met- you'd be worried if you've never met your best friends. "Don't expect me to cover up for you again, Harry. I cannot make you take Sirius Black seriously," Elara covered her mouth, silencing her laughs. Luckily, Remus didn't notice this and went on. "But I would have thought that what you have heard when the Dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect on you. Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. A poor way to repay them - gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks." Remus turned his attention onto Elara. "And you better stop throwing rocks at people," he warned sternly, his finger pointed at her. "I don't want to hear another kid complaining of a bloody head,"

She shrugged her shoulders. "He just happened to get in the way, a massive coincidence," she brushed it off. Remus stared at her for a moment. "What?" She asked. The man sighed out, shaking his head and walked away. If you paid close attention ( which no one was ), you would've heard him snort out slightly. The trio looked disheartened as they all wandered away and following them up to the Gryffindor common rooms, Elara had decided to join them as it wasn't that late.

"It's my fault," said Ron immediately, turning his attention to Harry who's face was bleak with sadness. He must have realised he didn't have his Invisibility Cloak. How awful. They just had to lose the map. "I persuaded you to go. Lupin's right, it was stupid, we shouldn't've done it -"

"I think I could try and maybe get the map back?" Elara struggled to brighten the mood. She shrugged. "Although, Papa did seem quite set on keeping it which isn't good. We can all just hope someone manages to sneak it back and then, maybe, just maybe we can use it again," she kicked a pebble on the floor. "I was really hoping to see how it worked properly on my own," Soon enough, they arrived at the entrance of Gryffindor's common room, all stopping when they noticed Hermione anxiously standing there.

"Come to have a good gloat?" Queried Ron, glaring as Hermione stopped in front of them, her hands in front of her as she looked down at the note she held firmly in her grasp. "Or have you just been to tell on us?" Elara hit him with her elbow, making the boy wince out as he held where her elbow had dug into. "Fuck- El don't do that!" He hissed out.

"Don't act like a bitch then," she said simply. Ron started spluttering out incoherent things.

Hermione finally spoke out, "No," She was holding a letter in her hands and her lip was trembling as she tried explaining what it had said. Elara immediately left Ron's side and went to give her friend a massive hug as she continued to look nervous. "I just thought you ought to know... Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed." In fact, that's exactly what the messy handwriting said, it's dignified tone full of sadness and sorrows. Despite it not being able to speak or portray actual emotions, the shakiness of the letters and the splotches of tears that stained the parchment collected the fact that Hagrid's greatest dismays had been predicted and the dread he had thought of for months was collapsing down on him.

⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒
I REALLY REALLY HOPE YOU ALL LOVED THIS CHAPTER- IM SO SORRY FOR THE CONTINUOUS DEADRIC JOKES !!
ALSO CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT ELMIONE FOR A SECOND? THOSE TWO BITCHES NEED TO GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER AND KISS-
I'd also like to enlighten the world that my Valentine's Day was spent fake proposing to Elizabeth Olsen and Zendaya- I was belting out abba like no tomorrow- you know what? you better go listen to some mama mia- Also my aunt bought me billie eilish and queen albums for my record player but they were both scratched so ych a fi ( that's welsh for yucky, yes I'm welsh, no I'm not shagging any sheep dw ).

IF THERE ARE ANY SPELLING, GRAMMATICAL OR PUNCTUAL ERRORS, IGNORE FOR NOW PLEASE !! THANK YOU !!

ALSO WTF IM ALREADY AT 7K ? I LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU SO SO SO MUCH AND PLS OMG YOU ALL MEAN THE WORLD TO ME !! NO MATTER HOW BIG, SMALL OR WHATEVER YOU ARE, I WANNA TAKE YOU ALL AWAY TO MY BASEMENT AND FEED YOU FROGGO CAKE