13. FIRST DAY BACK AND I'M ALREADY IN THE HOSPITAL WING

The next day, sat at breakfast with Theodore and Bianca, Elara got her timetable from Snape, who scowled as he walked by her. She looked down at the paper and noticed that she had Defense Against the Dark Arts today.

"Oh how lovely, guess we get to meet Mad-Eye today." The Black heiress rolled her eyes. Bianca frowned.

"Well, don't you sound excited."

"Oh yes, so excited, can't you tell? I'm about to explode." Came the dry response.

"What's wrong Lara?" Theodore noticed that she didn't seem angry really, just upset. Elara sighed, and buried her head in her hands, mumbling something.

"I'll see you guys in class." Bianca waved before she headed off with another girl in their grade. Theodore scooted closer to his best friend and grabbed hold of her hands, bringing them down and keeping a hold of them. "Elara."

"Theodore." After he gave her a look, she sighed again. "I have nothing against Moody, it's just- I wish Uncle Moony was still here, and Moody is teaching in his place, and it just doesn't feel right to me. It's fine, I'm fine, don't worry, it's nothing."

"If it's making you upset, then it's not nothing Lara. I'm going to worry." The boy raised his eyebrow at her.

"Speaking of worrying. I'm worried about you." Elara brought her hand up and traced the space under Theodore's eyes. "Bags. Theo, you haven't been sleeping. That is a cause for concern. I just miss my uncle; you haven't been sleeping."

"You're one to talk."

"Yes, but, I have a medical condition that doesn't really let me sleep, so I don't really- I can't sleep, and when I do, it's the nightmares that wake me."

"That night, when we slept on the couch in the common room, I woke up and you were sleeping, quite peacefully, might I add." Theodore remembered that one night. Elara looked down and muttered something lowly. "Lara, I can't hear you."

"I said, it's because you were there, I sleep better when there's someone beside me, distracting me, talking to me, caring about me. If I'm alone, it makes it harder." Elara admitted.

"Elara, why didn't you tell me?"

"What could you have done? I'm not keeping you up because of me, or making you sleep on the couch again, it wasn't comfy."

"Sleep in my dorm."

"Beg your pardon?"

"Sleep in my dorm. We had an odd number of boys in first year, and none of them wanted to room with a Nott, so I was allowed my own room." He said his last name with bitterness clear in his tone.

"Will it help you sleep?"

"Tons."

"Then I will." She smiled at the boy sat beside her. The one people often misjudged because of his house, and his family. The house that had gained such a reputation that people now believed nothing good came from it. The family that he had no choice but to be a part of, the family that he left.

Elara wished people could see the real Theodore Nott. The boy that helped her with her insomnia when he could. The boy who calmed her down when she had panic attacks. The boy who ran his fingers through her hair and made her forget everything bad in the world. The boy that made her life better by just existing.

"What's got you thinking now?" His voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"I just wish people could see you as I saw you. The real you."

"I don't really care." He shrugged. "As long as you see me for me, I'm alright."

"You're brilliant, you know that?" She smiled fondly and kissed his cheek. Breakfast had finished, and the pair made their way to their first class of the day, separating with the promise of seeing each other again for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

And soon that time came, and Gryffindors and Slytherins poured into the classroom. Everyone pulled out their books and placed them in front of them, but Moody demanded they put them away. Elara came in late, and she was forced to sit at the very front beside a Slytherin boy she didn't know. Theodore was sat beside Bianca behind them and he shot her a smile as she walked in, which she happily returned.

Moody had a jar in front of him, with three spiders in them, and he clutched his wand in his hand as he walked around the classroom, his wooden leg thumping and his blue eye whirring around madly.

"Alright. So I've had letter from your previous professor, and he's told me which Dark Creatures you've gone over, and you have done quite a good amount. But, what you haven't covered, is curses. So, my job this year is to cover those, then I'll be off. Just doing this as a favour for Dumbledore."

He clasped his hands together, and it seemed as though his eyes pierced into Elara's soul when they landed on her. She looked away, uncomfortable before he continued. "Right, let's start. Curses. They come in many forms and in different strengths. We'll be going over illegal Dark curses. So, who can tell me which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"

Alicia Spinnet raised her hand and he turned on her, raising his eyebrow and urging her to speak. "The Imperius Curse."

"Indeed. Gave the Ministry lots of trouble." Moody reached into the jar and held it in the palm of her hand. He pointed his wand at it and said the spell loud and clear so everyone could hear it. "Imperio."

Moody proceeded to do a demonstration of how the spider was completely under his control, and he made it do several things. Elara was taken aback at how easily it was to take control over someone's mind, and make them do things they didn't want to do. It placed so much power in the hands of one person.

"Another curse? Anyone?" He looked around and zeroed in on Elara. "You! Black!"

"Yes professor?"

"How's your father?"

"He's doing great professor, as great as he can after being falsely imprisoned for 12 years." Elara shrugged.

"Good. Give me another curse."

"The Cruciatus Curse." She muttered. Moody nodded his head and he reached into the jar once more, plucking out the second spider and enlarging it. He placed on his palm and pointed his wand at the hairy creature. "Crucio."

The spider's legs bent and its body contorted. There was no sound but it was clearly in pain. Elara unknowingly dug her nails into the skin on her palm, her knuckles turning white from how hard she squeezed. Blood appeared in her palms but she didn't seem to realise. It was Theodore, sat behind her who noticed the red drops fall onto the ground beside her chair and he adopted a concerned look. He should have been the one affected strongly by it, considering he did get hit with it, but his mind was focused completely on Elara.

He was about to reach out and ask her if she was alright when Moody stopped torturing the spider and rounded on the Nott boy. "Nott, give me the last one."

"The Killing curse."

Elara froze. The Killing curse. The same one that had killed her Uncle James and her Aunt Lily. Moody nodded and took out the last spider, placing it down in front of Elara, as though mocking her. He pointed his wand for the third time and uttered the one simple phrase that ended the lives of so many people. "Avada Kedavra."

A flash of green light and the spider lay motionless in front of Elara, it brought her back to a night many years ago when she saw James Potter dead.

//FLASHBACK//

"Hey Ellie? Want to go see Uncle James, Aunt Lily and baby Harry? We can give them some sweeties?" Her father asked her. She was sat on the floor, playing with her dollies. As soon as she heard that, she stood and laughed.

"YES DADDY! PLEASE!" He laughed and picked her up, along with the bag of sweets before apparating to the Potters house in Godrics Hollow.

They appeared in front of a house. But it didn't look like the Potters house. It was in ruins, a wall blasted off, windows shattered, door off its hinges. Sirius dropped the candy and ran inside with Elara still in his arms.

He stopped in the living room, seeing a body. He placed Elara on the ground where she wandered over to it. it was her Uncle James, but he was sleeping? She giggled. "Uncle Prongsie? Wake up silly! It's not time for bed! It's time for sweeties!"

"Uncle Prongsie? Uncle Prongsie! Daddy, why isn't he waking up?!" Elara was getting hysterical now. "DADDY WHATS WRONG WITH HIM?"

"Oh sweetheart." Sirius hugged her. "Uncle Prongsie is gone baby. He went to a better place."

"Why did he leave me? Daddy why did he leave us? Did he get bored of me?"

"No of course not baby! But a bad man came and took him away." Sirius was crying, his brother, his closest friend was gone now. That lighthearted boy with the messy black hair and soft hazel eyes was dead. The boy who offered his home to Sirius when he didn't have one. The one who stuck by him through it all. He was gone. No more was that goofy guys, no more were the pranks, no more was seeing Elara on the bag of his stag form, prancing around the living room. Now, he was lifeless.

//FLASHBACK OVER//

Theodore kept looking over at his best friend, growing worried. Moody kept on talking but it didn't look as though she heard anything he said. She was sat in the same spot, fists clenched and she didn't move at all. Suddenly, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she slumped in her seat, dropping to the ground.

Theodore lunged forward and caught her before her head could make contact with the ground. Moody looked down alarmed. "Hospital wing. You're dismissed." He waved his wand at Theodore, who stood and picked Elara up, racing to Madam Pomfrey.

As soon as he got there, he placed on a bed gently and sat down on a chair beside her, holding her hand and bringing it to his lips. "Please be okay."