27. WE'RE SOARING, FLYING

"Hey, Theo?"

"Yes, Lara?" Theodore turned to his girlfriend as they were sat in Charms, their wands out and going over some basic charms in preparation for their N.E.W.T.s the following year.

"There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up." Elara swished her wand and did the charm perfectly without even speaking. This was the added element of complexity this year, they were to do basic charms, but nonverbally.

"And?" Theodore furrowed his eyebrow, trying to summon his feather to him without saying a word.

"So, we can sneak away to somewhere else, and I can show you my Animagus. No one will wonder why we're missing." Then, she placed a hand over his wand hand. "Here, close your eyes and imaging the feather floating to you, imagine yourself yelling the spell, but only in your head, and then the feather coming to you."

Theodore opened his eyes, and swished his wand, causing the feather to come flying towards him. "Thanks." He kissed the side of her temple. "And that sounds like a brilliant idea. Let's do it. Got an idea as to how we're going to go wherever we're going to go?"

"Well, I'd like to make a portkey, but that's kind of illegal, and I don't really fancy going to Azkaban for that, so we might have to take brooms, or maybe I can convince Dad to Apparate us somewhere, and he can see my form too?"

"That sounds reasonable."

"Yeah. He can bring us back to Hogsmeade when we're done." Elara nodded her head in satisfaction. "Anyways, since we're done with the spell, I'll write a letter now and send it off after class."

She pulled out her quill and ink and unrolled some parchment. Then, she dipped her quill in the ink and wrote;

Dad,

Hi! I've missed you lots, it's weird not seeing your face every day. I haven't told you this, but I've finally done the Animagus thing. I want to show you and Theodore my form, but I can't exactly do that in school. So, I had this idea that you could come and Apparate us somewhere, I can show you both, and then you could take us back to Hogsmeade.

Let me know what you think by next weekend, that's Hogsmeade weekend and no one would suspect anything if we disappeared for a little while.

Love you lots,

El

A day or so later, Elara received a response from her father saying he would be delighted to take her somewhere and see her form. And so, when Hogsmeade weekend came, Elara was woken up by Theodore who was quite excited. He forced her to get ready quickly, as he himself was already dressed and waiting.

Elara hurried to the bathroom and showered, then after drying her hair and brushing her teeth, she got dressed in a pair of ripped jeans, her spare Quidditch jersey and threw her leather jacket in over top. The weather was getting warmer, but still was cool and accompanied with harsh winds.

She pulled her boots on, and after sticking her wand in one of them, she rushed down to the common room to find Theodore waiting for her. "Quick." She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the Great Hall. "We've got to hurry; I want breakfast before we have to leave."

"Alright, alright." Theodore let her drag him over to the Gryffindor table, where she sat down beside Harry and grabbed some food after kissing him on the head. Theodore sat down on her other side.

"Is everything alright with her?" Ron asked Theodore, pointing at Elara who was stuffing her face with waffles. She turned her head and glared at the redhead momentarily before turning back to her food.

Theodore shook his head. "She's trying to eat as fast as she can because we're on a bit of a schedule." He bit into some toast and gulped down some pumpkin juice.

"El, Sirius' coming to see me today at Hogsmeade, want to come?"

Elara swallowed what was in her mouth and turned to him. "I'd love to Harry, but I'm seeing Dad a bit earlier today. That's why I'm hurrying now."

"Oh, that's why he wanted to meet later."

"Let's go, Theo!" Elara stood. "Bye kiddos. Don't burn down the school or start a revolution without me. I'll see you all later." She then linked her fingers with her boyfriends and walked out of the Great Hall and towards the grounds.

"Where did he say he was going to meet us?" Theodore asked, a curious look on his face as he was being lead towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Forest. Apparition point ends somewhere in there, so that's the only place we'll be able to leave from, other than Hogsmeade."

"And why did we not leave from Hogsmeade?" They continued on, now in the forest, both of their wands out, and their eyes cautious and alert.

"Because, where's the fun in that?" Elara grinned, and her smile only widened when she saw her father stood a few metres away. She let go of Theodore's hand and sprinted towards her father, launching herself in his arms. "Dad!"

"Little moon!" Sirius laughed and wrapped his arms around his daughter. She had her head on his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist tightly. Sirius closed his eyes and leant his head on top of hers.

"I missed you." She mumbled; the sound muffled as her head was on his chest.

"I missed you too." Sirius lifted his head and squeezed his daughter one more time before letting go. Then, he hugged Theodore briefly before holding out both of his arms. "Well, grab on, and lets go."

Elara grabbed his hand from one side, and Theodore his arm from the other. Sirius Apparated and arrived at a forest that appeared to be empty, no animals as well. But then there was a rustle and Elara and Theodore whipped their wands out, pointing them in the direction of the voice. Remus came out, hands help up in mock surrender and a mischievous smirk on his face, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Don't shoot." He drawled.

"Uncle Moony." Elara sighed in relief, putting her wand back in her boot and approaching her uncle, wrapping him in a hug. "You look different. A good different." She assured him.

"It's all your father, he's been dragging me to do things that we used to do back when we were younger. It's brought back the inner Marauder in me." Remus chuckled, hugging the girl and then nodding in the direction of Theodore who nodded back in return.

"Oh yes, hope you don't mind. I brought Remus along." Sirius laughed nervously. Elara turned to face him; eyes narrowed.

"I bet you only brought him because he caught you writing the letter, or intercepted mines. But never mind that now, I'm going to show you my form." She took her wand out of her boot and tossed it to Theodore. "Now, Theodore knows what my form is, but he hasn't seen it. I told McGonagall too, she was very surprised, so that's good."

Theodore nodded, before turning to the two older men. "You might want to give her some space." He himself backed away.

"Why's that?" Sirius questioned.

"Because my form's quite big, Dad. And before I transform, Uncle Moony, could you cast a few spells around us so no one can see us." She saw her uncle pull out his wand and cast a few spells, causing a translucent, silvery dome to appear around them. That satisfied her, and so she backed away and closed her eyes.

She made her mind to blank first, picturing nothing but black. Then, she began formulating a dragon, she thought of the black scales, the powerful wings, the bronze ridges, claws and the sharp teeth. And smoothly, as they all watched, she transformed into a beautiful Hungarian Horntail.

Sirius gasped loudly and took a step back, tripping on a log and falling on his behind. "Oh, my Merlin." Remus was stood in his place, eyes wide and mouth open. And Theodore tucked Elara's wand into his own boot before approaching her. She was happy to see him come closer and flopped down on the ground.

Once he was close enough, he laid a hand near her nose. "Wow." He was in awe. She unfurled her wing and moved her head to she nudged him towards it. "You want me to get on your back?" Once he saw the nod, he moved to her wing and carefully climbed it till he was on her back. There, he sat down and grabbed onto one of the bronze ridges there to steady himself.

Sirius stood and rushed towards Elara, hugging her nose tightly. She closed her eyes for a second, before nudging him to her wing as well. Once he climbed on, she turned towards Remus and blew some smoke into his face, causing him to cough.

"What the hell." He looked up to see the dragon giving him a look. "I'm sorry, El, this is just a lot to take in. Your forms a bloody dragon."

"Don't pretend we didn't all see it coming. She wants to work with dragons when she's older." Theodore replied nonchalantly, causing Elara to nod and huff in approval. She gestured with her head to her wing. "She wants you to get on."

"Why?"

"We're going for a ride, of course!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

"Oh, I am not getting on her back. I'm going to stay here on the ground, safely." Remus shook his head.

"Suit yourself." Sirius shrugged. "Let's fly, El!"

Elara stood and flapped her wings till she was hovering off the ground slightly, then before anyone could do anything, she lunged at Remus and grabbed him with her claws, then launched herself into the sky with Theodore and Sirius whooping in delight on her back, and Remus screaming bloody murder in her claws.

"Moony, shut the bloody hell up and enjoy the view!" Sirius yelled down to his friend, who quieted down once he realised they were flying over the mountains and looking down he saw greenery and snow in some places. There were lakes and animals. It was breath-taking. But, it had to come to an end, and Elara landed back in their original clearing.

She let them all get off her, before she closed her eyes and imagined her human form once more. She thought of her dark hair, her grey eyes, her clothes, and then transformed right into her original form. As soon as she opened her eyes, she was tackled to the ground in a tight hug from Theodore.

She laughed and hugged him back. "I'm so proud of you, Lara. You're bloody brilliant, I hope you know that."

"Thank you, Theo. I couldn't have done any of this without you." She smiled at him, then stood and held her hand out for him to take, and once he did, she pulled him up.

"El! That was brilliant!" Sirius yelled, looking like an over-excited child.

"Thanks, Dad." Elara giggled, then she turned to Remus. "Uncle Moony? You alright?"

"That was beautiful. Thank you. And your form is amazing." He smiled at her. "What enhancements has this made to your human form."

"Well, my visions better, especially in the dark. I've got a stronger affinity for fire related spells, which is brilliant because they're my favourite. And I read somewhere from another dragon Animagus, that we tend to release smoke from our noses and mouths if we get particularly aggressive, or angry. It hasn't happened yet, but I assure you that when it does, everyone around me will be very confused."

"Alright, well, that's wonderful. El, let's get you and Theodore back to Hogwarts. I'll drop you off at Hogsmeade. I'm sure Harry's told you, but I'm meeting with him." Sirius offered his arms once more and the teenagers grabbed them.

"Bye, Uncle Moony." Elara waved just before her father Apparated. He appeared in an alleyway in Hogsmeade, to keep them out of sight. He let go of their arms, and hugged Elara one last time before leaving to find Harry.

"Well that was a fun way to end the week." Elara laughed, causing Theodore to roll his eyes and chuckle, wrapping his arms around her in a warm hug.