DECEMBER HAD ARRIVED.
And with it, came the first snow of the year, blanketing Hogwarts' grounds in a sheet of white.
But while her friends were all outside, messing around with the snow, Elara was following Ron Weasley down the dreary hallways, wistfully staring out the windows at the soft snow falling.
"It won't take long." Ron noticed her gaze. "We just have to do it in a place where we're sure no one can overhear us."
Elara pushed her way through a group of fifth years going in the opposite direction, all eager to be out in the snow on Saturday morning. "I understand, don't worry. I told you I wanted to meet."
"We heard about the little... thing that happened with Buckbeak. He's a scary thing but he's actually really sweet -"
"It wasn't Buckbeak," Elara interrupted, quickly. "I love him. It just happened. Nothing really triggered it."
She shoved thoughts of Fletcher to the back of her mind.
"Oh." Ron looked embarrassed as they turned into an empty corridor. Elara recognised it as the one she'd followed Draco into before he disappeared and Filch caught her. "Well, I'm sorry. I hope you're feeling better."
"Thanks, Ron." She shot him a smile and he ducked his head, one playing at his own lips. "Where are we going?"
"Oh. We're here." He halted suddenly.
Elara frowned, staring up at the wall in front of them. It was a plain wall - no portrait, no secret door, no alcove. "We are?"
"Give me a second." He began to walk up and down in front of the wall, once, twice, thrice, his face focused.
Elara stared at him, about to demand what the hell he was doing, but then something shimmered in front of them and a large door appeared in the wall.
Ron looked relieved. "Come on."
Elara couldn't believe she hadn't known this room existed - she'd walked by this place at least a million times.
She trailed behind Ron, stepping in behind him and finding herself in a large room with a high-vaulted ceiling.
In front of her, standing in a row, were Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Cho Chang.
"Cho?" Elara spluttered as Ron shut the door behind them. "What are you doing here?"
Cho gave her a small smile. "Hey, El."
"Elara."
Elara turned her eyes onto Harry. She knew him, of course, but they had never really talked throughout the years. He'd been a bit too busy carrying the Wizarding World on his shoulders, she imagined.
"Harry," she said, slowly. "What's going on?"
"I asked you if you wanted to join the DA -" Ron started from beside her.
"Dumbledore's Army," she said, puzzled.
"Yes. Well, this is it."
Elara looked between the four of them for a few moments. "You're kidding, right?"
Hermione made a sound of exasperation. "I told you she wouldn't listen -"
"You haven't explained anything to me yet!" Elara protested, glaring.
"She's right," Harry nodded. "I know this is a bit of a shock, Elara. We formed the DA last year when - when Umbridge was here."
Elara crinkled her nose at the spiteful teacher's name.
"We originally formed it because she wouldn't teach us anything but theory and we thought - we thought we needed actual practice for us to learn enough to... to fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters."
It began to dawn on Elara.
"There's a lot more people than this," Harry rushed to add. "But we thought it best if we kept it small to introduce you to everything."
"We basically learn and practice spells," Cho put in. "Charms, hexes, healing spells... Anything we might need in battle."
"You're... You're expecting a battle?" Elara's voice didn't sound like her own.
Harry hesitated for only a second. "Yes. Well, either I die or Voldemort does. So I kind of wanted to be prepared. And there's no guarantee that Hogwarts won't be attacked as well."
"They couldn't -" Elara started, shocked.
"We hope they can't," Hermione cut her off. "But we still need to be prepared."
"Better safe than sorry," Ron added, gently.
Elara turned their words over in her mind. "You're asking me to join the DA?"
"Yes." Harry nodded. "Cho told us - she told us you were really good at all your classes -"
"Ironically, Defence Against the Dark Arts is my worst subject," Elara replied, dryly.
"You're doing so well," Cho said, indignantly. "Your aim and defense is better than most people in our class. Except maybe Draco."
Draco had been teaching her. Elara felt a pang in her chest at the thought of him.
"We're asking you to join," Ron said. "If there really is a battle soon - like Harry expects -"
"You don't have to," Harry interrupted, quietly. His eyes were thoughtful. "I would never force anybody."
"If you don't, we'll just Obliviate you," Hermione put in.
"Obliviate me?"
Harry looked embarrassed. "Yes. We can't risk anyone else finding out about the DA - not that you'd tell but -"
"But Umbridge is gone," she said, bluntly. "Why hide it? I hardly think McGonagall is going to have a problem with this."
"It's safer this way," Hermione responded. "We can only have people actually loyal to Harry joining. If everyone knew about it, chances of it reaching someone with bad intentions -"
"Like Malfoy." Ron said his name with such hate, Elara glanced over at him.
"Yes. Like Malfoy. We just can't risk it." Hermione crossed her arms over her chest.
"We wanted to ask you last year," Cho hurriedly put in, sensing Hermione's impatience. "But..."
Elara looked at them, expectantly. "But what?"
"Er..." Cho seemed to regret saying anything. "It's just..." She glanced at Harry who looked as flustered as her. "Fletcher was spreading a rumour and we - we couldn't be sure if it was true or not."
"What rumour?" Elara pressed, impatient.
"He just - He was saying stuff about you and Malfoy," Ron mumbled, staring at his feet. "About you and him - being together."
Elara's stomach turned.
"So we didn't want to risk asking you because we didn't know where your loyalties lay," Hermione finished, bluntly. "But Harry seems to think you can be trusted."
Harry nodded. "I do. Ron's told me enough and so have Fred and George."
Elara fell silent for a minute. "Fletcher..." She cleared her throat. "Fletcher is part of the DA?"
"Oh, god, no." Ron looked horrified. "He's great at DADA but we can't trust him."
Something in Elara eased.
She looked back at the four faces staring at her. Harry's tired eyes, Hermione's annoyed ones, Ron with his hopeful expression and Cho pleading.
Did she want to commit to this?
Why wouldn't she? It was an opportunity to improve her skills even more than she was with Draco.
Draco... He couldn't know. No one could.
"What about my friends?" she asked, quietly. "Indigo, Stuart, Tracy."
"Do you think they're..." Harry let his voice trail off.
"They're the most trustworthy people I know."
"Stuart..." Cho hesitated. "Stuart is already part of the DA."
Elara's throat closed. "He... What?"
"He joined last year," Harry answered, almost apologetically. "He wanted to tell you but we forced him not to."
Stupidly, Elara didn't feel betrayed. She just felt dumb. How had she not noticed her best friend sneaking off here?
"I... Right," she said, dazed. "Right."
"So..." Ron put his hand on her shoulder. "Do you... accept?"
Elara saw Hermione's hand go to her wand, ready to Obliviate her before she could get away if she refused.
She wondered if Draco would be angry if he found out.
Why in the world was she thinking of Draco?
Now was not the time.
"I accept," she said, quiet but firm.
A grin broke out over Ron's face and Cho came flying at her to envelope her in a hug.
Hermione gave her a sharp nod.
Harry stepped forward, holding his hand out. "Welcome to Dumbledore's Army, Elara."
|
"Mr. Banks, if you don't stop talking right this instant, I will give you detention!"
Stuart's mouth snapped shut as he bent his head under Slughorn's scolding. The professor was in a foul mood this morning and had snapped at three students already.
"Gosh," murmured Tracy under her breath. "Who stuck a wand up his arse?"
Elara elbowed her, sharply, as Slughorn turned to face their cauldron.
She'd barely been able to pay attention the entire class - Draco hadn't shown up to Potions and it had made her uneasy. He had never not been in Potions - it was the easiest subject for him.
"Your potion should be a lot lighter than that, Miss Jacobs," Slughorn said, disapprovingly, and she nodded, her mind still far away, wondering where the boy with light hair and icy eyes was.
Elara glanced over at Draco's empty seat and caught Fletcher's eye. She had expected him to look smug without Draco's presence but instead, his head was ducked, his eyes trained on the book in front of him, his cauldron barely bubbling.
Elara frowned. Something wasn't sitting right with her.
Just then, there was a sharp rap on the classroom door and the class looked up as Professor Slughorn crossed the room with an irritated expression on his face.
He yanked open the door to reveal Professor Snape, standing with this hands clasped behind his back.
"Severus -?"
Elara's heart thudded in her chest.
"I need Miss Jacobs," Snape said, quietly. "Now."
Elara's skin crawled. Draco.
It was too much of a coincidence. Something had happened to him.
Elara felt a wave of dread wash over her and her stomach flipped.
She was on her feet in a second, almost running after Snape as he turned.
"Is he okay?" It was the first thing out of her mouth as they emerged into the hallway.
Snape's mouth was set in a straight line and he didn't respond.
Elara felt like she was going to be sick. "Professor, is he -"
As soon as they had turned the corner, he whirled on her, seething. "What happened that day?"
She shrank back. "What -"
"The day you had that episode of yours," Snape spat out. "What really happened?" He glared down at her. "I don't appreciate being lied to, Miss Jacobs. I should deduct two hundred points from Ravenclaw."
Elara gaped at him. "Professor -"
"Malfoy has been expelled," Snape said through gritted teeth, his eyes flashing. "I told you to keep an eye on him and you got him expelled."
Elara's stomach dropped. "I - what? He's been expelled? For what?" But even as she asked, she realised she already knew the answer.
There had been no signs of bruises on Fletcher's face today, despite there having been yesterday during History of Magic. He had also been using his right hand - which he hadn't been able to do the day before either.
Elara put two and two together, quickly. He was healed - he'd gone to the infirmary. Pomfrey would've asked what happened. He would've talked.
"Yes," Snape ground out, seeing the realisation dawn on her face. "Draco Malfoy happened to attack Fletcher Smith, unprovoked, on exactly the same day as you had your little episode. And brought you to the infirmary minutes after that. Are you going to tell me that's a coincidence? "
Elara blinked. "Fletcher said it was unprovoked?"
"Mr. Smith barely said a word, only managed to tell us it was Malfoy who had done it. He arrived at the infirmary last night with the bones in his right hand splintered and his nose fractured, as well as a limp, a black eye, and several broken ribs, as well as a Silencio charm which prevented him from eating, drinking or talking. Upon interrogation and the removal of the charm, he reluctantly admitted that Malfoy had attacked him and he'd been too scared to come to the infirmary lest Malfoy find out and come after him."
Elara silently swore at Fletcher.
"The child was scared out of his mind at the thought of Malfoy finding out he tattled," Snape went on."However, McGonagall and the Headmaster decided that Mr. Malfoy would face the consequences, first thing in the morning."
Elara's palms were damp. "And what did Draco -"
"He accepted it. Didn't so much as blink when he was told he would be expelled for attacking Fletcher without any reason."
Elara felt like she'd been Petrified as she stood there in shock. "He - He didn't explain why he did it?"
"Didn't say a word."
Elara's knees nearly gave out. He hadn't told them. He hadn't told them what Fletcher had done to her, despite being expelled.
She pressed her hand over her heart, trying to calm her erratic heartbeat. "Is...Is he gone?"
"He's in McGonagall's office," Snape sneered. "But I'm not letting you go anywhere until you explain exactly what happened that day, Jacobs -"
Elara cut him off. "I need to see McGonagall." Upon seeing his furious gaze, she rushed to continue. "I'll tell you everything but I need to see Professor McGonagall now if I want to save Draco from expulsion."
Snape eyed her, warily, as she backed away from him. If he could have killed her, she knew he would've.
"If you let Malfoy get expelled, Jacobs," he said in a low tone, "I will make sure you follow in his footsteps."
Elara turned and fled, making her way towards McGonagall's office.
She'd have to save Draco Malfoy.