04. HOME NEW HOME

"SLYTHERIN!"

As soon as the hat announced her house, a smile grew on Elara's face. She grinned, and when the hat was taken off her head, she stood and practically skipped to the Slytherin table.

She sat down and looked down at her uniform, seeing her plain tie change to a silky emerald green paired with a rich silver. A Slytherin crest appeared above her breast, it was a snake in her house colours. She grinned as she looked around.

"Congratulations on getting into the best house." Someone said to her, holding their hand out. She smiled and grabbed it, shaking it. it was a guy, only slightly older than her. She assumed that he was a second or third year. He had dark hair and dark eyes.

"Thank you."

"I'm Adrian, Adrian Pucey." He let go of her hand and leaned back in his seat opposite her.

"Pleasure to meet you Adrian. I'm Elara Black. But you already knew that."

"Great meeting you Elara." He said before turning back to his conversation with his friends.

Elara's attention was captured once more when she heard Theodores name called. "Nott, Theodore!"

He looked towards Elara for reassurance, and instead of giving him a smile, she stood up on her bench and cupped her mouth with her hands. "YEAH THEO! YOU SHOW 'EM!"

Theodore's cheeks turned a bright red as people looked her way and began laughing when they saw where she was stood. She stayed standing even when he gave her a pleading look. "I'M NOT SITTING UNTIL YOU GET SORTED!"

He face-palmed and walked up the steps, sitting on the steps. After a few seconds, the hat called out "SLYTHERIN!"

Elara whistled loudly and whooped. "YES THEO! YES!" Theodore ran towards the Slytherin table and yanked her down. She collapsed on the seat beside him and laughed.

"You-" He shook his head, amused. "You're going to be the death of me Lara."

"And you, mine. Come on, lighten up! I have to have a reputation, so might as well start on it early on." She nudged him, almost pushing him off the bench, and he retaliated by messing up her hair, causing her to gasp. "Theodore! Not the hair! You monster!"

He laughed. "That's what you get for messing with a Nott."

"Well, Nott," She smirked. "I'm a Black, and we always get what we want."

"Oh, hello Elara. Fancy seeing you here." A familiar voice said. Elara looked up to see Bianca Zabini sat in front of her, beside Adrian.

"Hello Bianca. You wouldn't happen to be in this house, would you?" Elara had a mischievous grin on her face now.

"I am. What a coincidence."

"Indeed my friend."

They both burst out laughing and Theodore looked confused. Elara nudged him gently. "Theo, this is Bianca Zabini. Bianca, this is Theodore Nott."

"Pleasure to meet you." Theodore nodded.

"And you." The Italian heiress replied, flicking her curly hair into someone's face accidentally. They turned to look at her, a furious look on their face and Elara was quick to whip out her wand.

"Ah ah ah. Wouldn't want another broken nose, would we?" It was the same kid that had barged into their compartment on the train. He scowled.

"Guess I'll never be rid of you."

"Yeah, and that means that I can torment you whenever I want. Better watch out." She fluttered her fingers at him, and he grumbled, turning around. Adrian turned back to look at them.

"That's Miles Bletchley. He's in my year. He's an arse."

"Thank you for the clarification. Adrian, I've got a question. When are Quidditch try outs?"

"In a month, I think. There'll be an announcement in the common room. You can't miss it." She thanked him and turned back to look at the table, which was now covered with food. Elara grabbed herself some things and tucked in.

"Quidditch huh? Planning on trying out? I was." Theodore asked her, eyebrows raised.

"Mhm. I want to be a Beater. You?"

"Same." Elara grinned.

"Let's find the captain and ask if we can practice before the tryouts. We can work on working together."

"Good idea. But, if we do get in, how are we going to play without brooms?"

"I'm sure we can manage without them for a year, we can use the shitty school ones, and then buy our own for next year."

"Smart." Theodore muttered.

"Yes, I tend to be sometimes. Bianca, are you going to try out?"

"Oh now, I'm alright cheering for you guys. I'll be in the stands; with the biggest poster you've laid eyes on."

"How sweet of you, Bianca."

"You don't have to call me Bianca. I know it's a bit long. You can call me Bia." She shrugged. "You too, Theodore."

"Alright Bia." Elara tested it out. "You can call me El. Elara does sound weird, doesn't it? My family has a habit for naming people after celestial objects. I'm named after one of Jupiter's moons for fucks sake. And my father's named after the brightest star in the sky, the dog star."

"Shall I start calling you my moon now, Lara?" Theodore teased.

"Oh don't you dare Theo. I'll smack the man out of you." Elara warned.

"Who said he had any in him to begin with?" Bianca said without thinking. Then her eyes widened. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

Elara burst out laughing. "Oh my god, that was brilliant!" Theodore scowled at the two girls. Bianca had begun giggling now and Elara looked at Theo. "Oh come on, Theo, you've got to admit, that was a good one."

"No it was not." He pouted, causing her to awe inside. She squeezed his cheeks.

"I'm sorry you big baby. But don't think I won't stop teasing you." Then she turned to the still laughing Bianca. "And you Zabini, don't think that because you made me laugh that you're off the hook."

"What did I do?"

"You made my best friend upset." She stuck her tongue out, then turned back to Theodore. "See Theo, I'm a good friend."

"A good best friend." He corrected, causing her to smile.

"And you're a good one too."

"Why thank you."

"Well I'll just be off then?" Bianca's voice brought them back. Elara rolled her eyes.

"Oh come off it. I'm going to be the dramatic one here, not you. Didn't you see what I did for Theo?"

"I think everyone saw El."

"Oh, that's good."

Then Dumbledore stood and spread his arms wide. "Welcome back to our old students. And welcome to our new ones. Welcome to another year, filled with learning, and adventures. And I have no doubt that some of you will be causing some trouble." He winked at Elara, causing her to scowl. Theodore, knowing of her feelings towards their headmaster, scooted closer to her, and touched his knee to hers.

She sent him a smile and tuned out the rest of Dumbledore speech, specifically the part about the Forbidden Forest being forbidden. They were dismissed and the Slytherin prefects stood, calling on the first years.

They all stood and followed their prefects down to the dungeons and to a portrait of an old man. Upon seeing the snake beside him and the Slytherin crest surrounding him, Elara guessed this must be Salazar Slytherin. One of the founders of this school. "Password?" He asked, stroking his snake.

"Salazar."

"That's my name." He grinned and winked before the portrait moved to reveal their common room. It appeared to be under the lake, as the windows showed murky green. It had high ceilings, green furniture and torches.

"Boys dorm this way and girls dorm that way." The prefect pointed to the two corridors before heading off to sit on an armchair beside the emerald fire. Elara stopped at the entrance of the corridor, turned around and surprised Theodore with a hug. He managed to hug back, and then she pulled away.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'll meet you in the Great Hall."

"Alright. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She heard before her and Bianca walked down the corridor and to a door marked with their names along with one other. Leia Lestrange. Lestrange. That name sounded familiar before she realised.

Bellatrix Lestrange. Her father's cousin. Death Eater. But she wasn't going to make the mistake of acting rude to her daughter. So, Elara pushed the door open and looked for the girl. She lay on her bed, her curly black spread around her.

"Leia." She called. The girl sat up and glared when she saw Elara. "I'm Elara Black. Nice to m-"

"Oh shut up blood traitor. I know your father. He betrayed his family for that Potter and his mudblood wife." She spat.

Elara whipped her wand out and pointed it at Leia's face. "I fucking dare you to say one more word." Her voice trembling in anger. Bianca stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do.

"Oh are you scared little Black? Did I hurt your feelings? I'm not surprised your mother left. I wouldn't want a problem child either." Leia had a wicked grin on her face.

"You disgust me. Silencio!" She had a furious look on her face as she pointed the wand at Leia, who went silent, unable to speak. She tucked her wand away and sat in an empty bed, drawing the curtains around her shut, indicating that she wanted to be left alone.

Long after everyone had gone to sleep, and way past midnight, Elara still couldn't sleep. She lay awake, staring at the ceiling. She closed her eyes and began listing the moons of Jupiter, hoping it would help her sleep. Her father used to recite them to her every night. And after he was taken away, she continued it, and they were engraved onto her mind forever.

"Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Adrastea, Aitne, Amalthea, Ananke, Aoede, Arche, Autonoe, Callirrhoe, Carme, Carpo, Chaldene, Cyllene, Dia, Elara, Erinome, Eukelade, Euanthe, Euporie, Eurydome, Harpalyke, Hegemone, Helike, Hermippe, Herse, Himalia, Iocaste, Isonoe, Jupiter LI, Jupiter LII, Kale, Kallichore, Kalyke, Kore, Leda, Lysithea, Megaclit, Metis, Mneme, Orthosie, Pasiphae, Pasithee, Praxidike, Sinope, Sponde, Thebe, Themisto, Taygete, Thelxinoe, Thyone." At the end, she was falling asleep, not having even finished listing them all.