- Chapter Twenty-Three -
"You guys are quite predictable now that I know you."
December came around quicker than Elladora would've liked, she and Regulus had grown closer of the last couple of weeks, spending late nights sat in the common room whilst she helped him study for his O.W.LS, he said he wanted to be an Auror, if his parents let him. The girl greatly encouraged this and told him what lessons he would need to pick.
Elladora had actually picked the work path to be an Auror too, a lot of people did, it actually made it better that the marauders had all wanted to do the same thing. Hopefully they achieved it.
Every day, Elladora would casually look over to the Slytherin table and make sure that Regulus wasn't being bothered by Snape, Mulciber or Avery. Of course he wasn't, but it never hurt to check. Regulus had actually taken it upon himself to dodge conversations with the boys when he didn't want to talk, taking Elladora's advice on different places to hide from the Slytherins.
Sirius didn't know anything about it, and if she's being honest, there was a tiny bit of guilt weighing her down. But Regulus had grown a lot since their meet-up in the common room, even though her friend had specifically told her not to go. It didn't matter, she was doing what she thought was right.
Sibling rivalry isn't an excuse to let someone's life go down the drain.
"I love Christmas." James Potter's voice made Elladora jump out of her skin as she dropped her spoon back into her soup. "It's just...it makes me so fuzzy inside." He placed a hand to his heart and leaned his head on her shoulder whilst she stared down at him unimpressed.
"Prongs, leave the poor girl alone." Remus smacked his head, causing the boy to whine as he dragged his head off of Elladora's shoulder, cupping his ear.
The full moon had been and gone, it was a miracle and Elladora was delighted when she saw that her potion worked. The boys had allowed her to join them that night, for research on the potion. It had indeed work and after the transformation, complete with screams and howls of pain, Remus took one look at them in their human form and fell into a deep sleep, allowing Elladora to pet him so he kept comfortable.
•*•*•*•*•
"So, just careful down here." Sirius held his hand out for Elladora to take, but she didn't need to grasp it and brushed past him anyway, slipping down the hole in the Whomping Willow. He followed, Peter and James behind him as they led her the right way to the shrieking shack.
They got there after 2 minutes of walking, it was just as old and creepy as Elladora had imagined, there were different rooms that had been trashed and mainly decomposed. But there was one that had lots of rustling inside it. James stepped forward first and held a hand out to stop her from rushing past.
He crept in slowly, whispering to Remus, who seemed to be curled up in a ball on the floor from Elladora's point of view. Sirius went next, slowly and carefully. Then Peter went in and held his hand out for her to grasp, which she did and he told her which planks of wood to look out for as they approached Remus.
The boy curled up in a ball looked up in alarm, he had taken his seventh goblet of the week potion that morning, so he was a bit weary, one of the side affects. His eyes grew ten times the size as they landed on Elladora and he couldn't really form words, just decided on opening and closing his mouth over and over like a fish.
"What are you doing here?" He croaked and she shushed him, resting the back of her hand on his forehead to feel his temperature.
"Okay. That's normal." She noted and he writhed slightly.
"Get out of here." He groaned and she stepped back, slightly out of the room whilst the boys took their animagus form. It was...literally fantastic, the way their bodies morphed into different animals, she just hoped that they weren't naked when they came back, considering their clothes were now nowhere to be seen and their fur was bare.
The moonlight filtered in through the mostly bordered up window and James, as a Stag, came and placed himself in front of Elladora, but she made sure that she could still see through his antlers. If the potion worked then she could keep the same recipe.
She watched anxiously as Remus yelled and grunted with pain as his pupils grew smaller, his teeth grew longer, his limbs became taller and thinner, his hair grew slightly longer and his nails turned to claws. His face was still pale as he groaned and allowed his body to stand on two legs, letting the fur spurt out of him. It was quite sad to know that this was her best friend, in pain and all she could do was stand and watch.
After a couple of torturous minutes, the shifting was over and the werewolf was breathing heavily. He grunted and turned to face the animals, who took protective stances, but instead of trying to fight them, his yellow eyes grew weary and he settled down on the floor, fighting to keep them open, but he fell asleep no later.
Elladora gave James a little shove to let him know that he could let her in. He did so reluctantly and watched as she cautiously made her way over, she crouched down next to Remus and stroked the fur of his transformed self. A sigh left her lips and she nodded to the three animals behind her.
"It worked." James said after he shifted back into his human self, gobsmacked whilst he watched the girl seat herself next to their friend. "It actually worked."
The dog next to him gave a friendly growl and pounced on Elladora, a way of hugging, she presumed, so she just patted his back awkwardly as it retreated and turned back into Sirius, along with the rat, back into Peter.
"It worked." She nodded, looking down at Remus with a new found pride in herself, only some of the best potion masters could make that concoction and she did it herself. So tonight, when Remus shifts back, she would go back to the second-floor girls lavatory and do it all again.
•*•*•*•*•
They also had their detention, which ended up in a massive water fight, since Filch made them clean the trophy room with no magic at all. Sirius wiped bubbles on Elladora's robes, resulting in her pouring one of the whole buckets over him. Lets just say he didn't appreciate missing breakfast because of the extra time he spent in the shower.
It got a good laugh out of the boys though.
"Back to Christmas!" James exclaimed, breaking her out of her thoughts as he looked to the girl, chin resting in his hand. "What are you doing for the holidays, Dora?"
"Probably spending time in the library." She shrugged. "I overhead some Ravenclaws last year talking about how the dinners are so awkward, so I might skip-"
"Wait, wait, wait." Sirius held a hand up to her, silencing her speech as she raised her eyebrows at him. "You're staying here for Christmas?" He asked in disbelief.
"Well, thats my only other option, my parents don't want me home." She mumbled and the boys frowned, but then it was like a light bulb was lit in James' head and he grinned widely.
"What if that's not your only option?" He wiggled his eyebrows and she squinted at him in confusion.
"I could go to the black lake, but I don't think the Squid would be chuffed to have me there." She rolled her eyes and returned to her soup. James smirked at her sarcasm and glanced to the other boys who were also smiling at her progress, she wasn't so serious anymore.
"You're not catching my drift." James whined, stamping his feet under the table like an impatient toddler. "Come home with me." He said and all Sirius, Peter and Remus either choked on their drinks or on the air.
"What?" She asked him, pausing her eating for just a second.
"Come home for Christmas, with me. I mean, and Sirius, since he lives there at the moment, but come home with us. We can have a marauders Christmas." He exclaimed and the others' face lit up.
"We haven't done that since second year." Peter laughed.
"Done what?" Elladora furrowed her eyebrows and the boys all smiled, like they were reminiscing on something.
"A marauders Christmas, is when all four of us, Remus' parents and Peter's parents all come to my house for Christmas. We built a little hangout area in my attic, we call it the man cave." James explained. "But I guess now we'll have to call it the man and woman cave." He shrugged.
"Oh, and is there a password for this man cave? Let me guess," She pretended to think for a moment, tapping her chin mockingly before reaching into the pocket of her robes and throwing a piece of blank parchment onto the table. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good?"
The boys stared at the paper with their mouths agape and looked up at her slowly, seeing an amused twinkle in her eyes as James picked it up and started practically worshipping it.
"Where did you find it? I thought we lost it." He looked close to tears as he pocketed it quickly.
"You did, in the shrieking shack." She said. "I go there only walks with- with myself. I saw that on the floor and knew immediately it had something to do with you. You guys are quite predictable now that I know you. What are the words that closes it? Mischief Managed?"
They still continued to stare at her for a moment as she looked back down at her soup, raising her eyebrows.
"You are amazing." Peter breathed, smiling fondly. Remus nudged him and Peter cleared his throat, snapping out of whatever trance he was in.
"So, now that Dora knows all of our deepest, darkest secrets." James smirked. "Christmas?"
Of course she was hesitant, first of all, she had to make sure that the majority of the Slytherins were going home so that none of them ratted her out to her parents. Then she would have to see what Regulus was doing, not wanting to leave him in the castle all alone. But then there's the issue of James' parents not even wanting her there, or not even wanting a 'Marauders Christmas'.
"Your parents?" She asked.
"Probably fine with it, Mums always excited to have new people in the house." He shrugged. "More the merrier!" His voice raised several octaves in order to mimic his mother.
The boys laughed and Elladora nodded. "Well, I'd be glad to, but I'll need to...check some things first, write to your mother first, James." She said and he bowed his head as she grabbed her bag and left the table.
First mission: find Regulus
Second mission: see the list of Slytherins who'll be going home during the holidays.
Third mission: tell James Potter she'd be delighted to join them at a 'Marauders Christmas.'
"Regulus." She whispered when she found him hiding behind a statue, leaning his back against it whilst his legs were tucked up to his chest. He looked up rapidly at the sound of his name but visibly relaxed when Elladora came into view. "What's going on?"
"Hiding from Snape." He ran a hand through his hair whilst sighing. "Keeps trying to talk to me and he's getting quite annoying." A humourless laugh left his lips whilst the girl sat herself down next to him.
"What are you doing for Christmas?" She asked softly.
"Well, mum wants me home. Not sure why, but she does. So, I guess I'll be going home." He smiled grimly and Elladora rubbed his back comfortingly. "You?"
"I might stay here." She said. "Or, as I tell my closest friends, I might be staying at Potter's."
Regulus didn't seem all too intrigued or cautious that she was thinking about going to James' house, instead he had a glint in his eyes as he looked up, his hair dropping over his eyes.
"Closest friends?" He asked and she could hear the hope in his voice as he smiled slightly. She reached forward and pushed his hair back, so it wasn't dangling in his eye line anymore.
"Closest friends." She confirmed and they spent the rest of lunch sat in silence behind the statue, twirling some loose strings on their robes, that would probably make holes, but that could be fixed by a couple of spells.
•*•*•*•*•