- Chapter Fifty-Two -
"You certainly do a better job than my mother."
The holidays passed by in a blur. Elladora was sat comfortably in the Marauder's compartment of the Hogwarts Express as the April sunlight filtered in through the window that displayed the endless view of hills covered with grass. The chugging and puffing of the train was drowned out deep below the laughter of the group of five sat safely together in one small compartment where nobody could single any one of them out.
She was laughing at something James had said, putting a hand over her mouth as she chewed the chocolate that Remus had gotten her at the same time. Peter was almost in tears of laughter whilst Sirius just kept a goofy smile on his face. Remus was looking down at a book, the one that she had given him for his birthday and a small chuckle left his lips at the sound of the group's laughter even though his attention was on the inked words that printed the pages of the novel. He looked up at the group ad started laughing once more at the sight of them.
Then she woke up.
Gasping at the sound of a heavy fist banging on the door of the dark and shadowed room, Elladora pushed herself up from her lying position and became alert of the knocking on the door in front of her. She had to take a moment to realize where she was since one minute she had been laughing with her best friends and the other she was lying frailly on the hard floor of the room she had her worst memories in. Her hands were gripped into fists, so hard that little crescent shapes had begun to dig themselves into the skin of her palm by accident, and her legs were held up to her chest so her body was lying in a sort of ball position.
"Elladora." The rigorous tone of her mother's voice had her standing all too quickly, though she may have stood too fast since the dark surroundings of the room were now spinning slightly and her head felt disorientated.
The door flew open with a click of the lock and Cassiopeia came striding in, bringing a little bit more light from the outside of the room in with her. Elladora squinted in order for the new shine not to damage her eyes but she didn't have to do that long since her mother's physique came closer and the light was blocked from view.
The two of them didn't talk as Elladora allowed Cassiopeia to grab her arm and drag her out of the room. She slightly lost her footing from not having enough time to regain energy from the strenuous activity that took place before her mother had left the room and she fell into a tiresome sleep. The dragging continued up the stairs so they were in the entrance hall again and then her mother continued to bring her up the first floor where her room is.
"In." The woman said and shoved her daughter inside, Elladora nearly tripped over her long black skirt but stopped herself last second, instead opting to survey the room she had definitely not missed.
Her black-curtained canopy bed was in it's normal placement, pushed against the wall where you could see it as soon as you walked into the room. The voile curtains were pulled back and tied to each post of the bed, giving Elladora a perfect view of the neatly made bed with an excessive amount of pillows. There was a singular nightstand next to the bed which had a candle holder on top of it and a drawer in it. Her wardrobe was on the other side of the room, nothing special just a cupboard in a dark colour of wood. A darker toned small two-seater sofa sat next to it, never been used but always in perfect condition.
Elladora hated it.
She knows she should be grateful to have a room like this in an even more impressive house, but it doesn't feel like her room. Where she sleeps and rests after a full day should be somewhere she feels relaxed and safe, like she could fall asleep without any anxiety or worries. She couldn't do that there, in that bed, on that sofa, in that room, in that...prison. In the past, she had never really had a problem with it, she had never complained even to herself. She had just gotten on with it, laid down and fallen asleep even if she was still stressed.
But now, she realized that she had actually found a home. All the other years she had nothing to compare her living situation to so she didn't see a problem but now she sees that she does has a home, but it's not somewhere where she could physically sleep.
There was a sign in the Potter's house when she went there for Christmas that said 'Home is where the heart is'. Her heart wasn't in a specific place but it was always with a specific group of people. She missed them even more now.
"Get dressed, the Black's will be here soon." Her mother opened her wardrobe and pulled out specific garments and walked back over to the large bed, putting them down so the black contrasted against the black and she could barely see the specific items. "Dobby!"
It took a moment, but the small house-elf came barreling into the room, rushing over to in front of Cassiopeia and bowing low towards the ground. He seemed to glance around the room nervously, supposedly looking for something that he might've accidently left undusted by accident. Elladora frowned at the obvious anxiousness in his wide green eyes as her mother stared down at him disapprovingly.
"Yes, mistress?" Dobby said with as much confidence as he could muster and relieved himself from the deep bow he was in.
"Help Elladora into her clothes. I have more important things to do." She snarled, glaring at her daughter for a spare moment as Dobby looked between Elladora and the pile of complicated parts of a final outfit on the bed.
"Yes, of course. Dobby lives to serve."
She was out of the room, slamming the door behind her in one smooth motion as the two remaining watched her leave. Her footsteps echoed across the rest of the hallway before they started to descend the large staircase round the corner. Elladora turned to Dobby, who squeaked under her gaze and hopped quickly upon her bed, taking the black corset into his hands.
"How are you?" She asked, walking closer to the elf on the bed. He looked over at her shocked, which just made his eyes look even wider than normal.
"Are you talking to Dobby?" He asked quietly, pointing shyly at himself and she nodded, perching herself on the edge of he bed. "Well...Dobby has been as good as he can be here in this house."
A horrified expression then took over his face as he looked at the girl opposite him, who furrowed her eyebrow at his behavior before he let out a large wail and jumped off of the bed, rushing over to her wardrobe and gripping the sides as he began banging his head against it mercilessly, crying out every time he did so.
"No!" Elladora exclaimed in shock, standing from the bed and making her way hurriedly over to him. She tried to pull him away from the wardrobe as gently as she could, but he continued to try and bang his head on the wood.
"Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"
"Stop, stop hurting yourself!" She pleaded, crouching to put one hand on the wardrobe and the other trying to push the elf away from it but he tried to claw his way back. "Stop right now and that is an order!" She tried, never having given him a demand before.
It seemed to have worked though, since at those words, he froze in the middle of hitting his head and turned it slowly to face her. His great big eyes pooled with a couple of tears as he sniffled loudly, his nostrils glaring slightly as he quietly sobbed his way back to the bed.
"Oh, I-" Elladora frowned as he jumped back up to the clothes, picking up the corset. "I didn't mean to upset you or anything."
"Upset Dobby?" He asked disbelievingly, looking up at her as she hesitantly approached him. "Dobby always knew you weren't as strict as my other mistress and master, but never has he been asked to stop harming himself, like someone cares."
"Well, I do care." She shrugged with a small smile and Dobby sobbed once again over at her. Her face contorted into one of concern as she looked at him, but then she saw the slight smile on his own face as he stared.
"Your smile is very beautiful, miss." He sniffled and she smiled wider, getting closer to him as she reached out for the corset, but he gently swatted her hand away. "Mistress has ordered for Dobby to tie the corset, miss. Dobby could never ignore an order."
"Oh, very well then." She tilted her head and turned around from the elf, reaching for the zipper at the back of her dress. It got so far down but then she couldn't zip it down anymore, making her sigh frustratedly. "Dobby? A little help please."
The two managed to get the dress off carefully and Elladora felt very awkward in just her underwear but Dobby quickly helped her into her corset and tried it. It definitely wasn't as tight as her mother did it, but it went as far as it could go without hurting her, Dobby made sure of that. Once the corset was out of the way, the rest she could do herself, but Dobby insisted and helped the sleeves up her arms and the clipping of the long skirt.
It took about 45 minutes to put on with all the extra details and it eventually came to when Dobby was instructing her to sit on the bed whilst he took the heels that her mother had put out for her and put them on her feet, quickly doing the straps across her feet.
Elladora smiled at Dobby through her mirror as she looked into it. The dress was heavily uncomfortable, like all dresses that she had to wear when home were. She would much rather be curled up in a ball whilst wearing one of Sirius' baggy jumpers and her own leggings but here she was, trying to see the good in wearing a dress like this.
She couldn't find one.
"You certainly do a better job than my mother." She turned to Dobby as he smiled sheepishly. "It hurt less, therefore I thank you."
"Thank me?" He looked up at her and she smiled down at him again, nodding her head.
"Elladora!"
She looked over in the direction of her door and heaved out a big sigh, looking back towards the elf with a nod before she opened the door and walked out, Dobby right behind her as they made their way towards the staircase that lead down to the entrance hall where the Black's were probably going to arrive in a moment after they had walked the treacherously long path up from the gate.
The heels slapped against the dark marble as she made her way down as quick as she could, careful not to tread on her skirt so she wouldn't go tumbling down the hard mineral. Her mother and father were both waiting or her at the bottom, staring blankly up at her which made her want to go back up to her room and curl into a ball under her covers.
"Where is your headpiece?" Cassiopeia asked harshly when she arrived next to them and her eyes widened, but then she relaxed when Dobby arrived next to her, holding a silver headband which she took with a raise of her eyebrows, which counted as a smile when she was around her parents.
"Dobby, get to the kitchen!" Rodolphus ordered and the elf squeaked, running through the entrance hall and pushing his way through one of the black oak doors that were around the mansion.
There was a heavy knock that broke through the tense atmosphere and they all looked towards the large doors. Elladora's father went first, wrapping his hand around the doorknob and pulling it open. The familiar faces that she saw at the station filed in. The scary man first that made her want to back away from the intensity of the gaze around the hall, then the woman that looked like the same pureblood woman.
Then Regulus came through, in a dressy black suit that made him look very posh and stuck-up like he was superior to everyone. He seemed tense in it though, uncomfortable much like Elladora was in her dress. When they met each other's gazes, he gave a small smile and so did she after making sure her parents were looking away.
"Elladora, I'm not sure you've met, but this is Regulus Black. Walburga and Orion's son." Her mother introduced the two and she could tell that he was fighting off some sort of amused smile.
"It's lovely to meet you." Elladora said, trying to keep her own straight face as he made a show of grabbing her hand and bringing it up to his lips.
"Trust me, the pleasure is mine." He smirked, placing a kiss onto the back of her hand as she shook her head at him subtly.
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