Elanora had done exceptionally well on all the OWLs she had taken, which she already knew was going to happen. Dumbledore was pleased, and it was decided that she would start with the second years as he had originally planned. Of course, he wouldn't reveal how he knew what he knew, but she simply just shrugged it off. However, it wasn't Matthew who was waiting for her when she walked out.
Lucius bowed to Elanora again as he saw her walk out of the room. She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes as he smirked again. She supposed it was supposed to be charming, but she just wanted to gag. Together they walked to the dungeons. Lucius leveled eyes with Elanora, and smirked at the fact that she didn't shudder under his gaze. He turned back around and said "Pure-blood."
The wall opened and both of them stepped inside. "Welcome to Slytherin. We have a few basic rules: any confrontation in this house will be dealt with in the house. If you need to battle someone, do so discretely. Also, if you are doing something that might get you in trouble, do so without getting caught. You will gain house points by any means necessary and try to get the other houses to lose as many points as they can. Boys' dorms to the left, girls' to the right."
"Thank you Lucius." Ely tried to give him a smile that looked genuine, to which he seemed to buy into. "Good night."
"Good night Elanora." He bowed again but this time took her hand and kissed it. She tried not to change her facial expression or flinch, before she quickly turned on her heel and went to her dorm.
Ely looked around her and saw that three out of the other four girls she would be sharing a room with were gossiping with each other. The fourth looked rather introverted, and when she locked eyes with Ely she gave her a small smile. Ely returned it, before looking and seeing that everything was packed and where it needed to be. The three girls took the beds farthest away from Ely and the other girl, so the other girl sat on the free bed facing Ely.
Ely stuck out her hand for her to shake, "I'm Elanora Taylor, but I like it better if people call me Ely."
"Isabella Smith." The girl returned the handshake, her hazel eyes looking at Ely kindly, but still a bit worried. "Welcome to the Slytherin house."
For some strange reason, Isabella's name flashed across Ely's eyes, and she saw in the future the Daily Prophet doing a small article on her suicide.
'Maybe I was meant to save more than one life.' Ely thought briefly as she saw Isabella flipped her dark brown hair behind her back.
"Nice to meet you Isabella, and thank you."
She smiled at Ely again, "By the way, you can call me Bella. Isabella has always been very formal to me."
"So where do you come from Bella?" Ely felt stupid asking this question, but quickly realized that if she was going to have an ally in this house against the rest of the girls if it came down to it, Bella would be it.
"I'm from Scotland…" She paused momentarily and really looked at Ely, "You're not from around here, are you?
"No I'm not. Originally I am, but I've been living in Australia for years." She fake yawned and rolled onto her side, magically switching into her pajamas to avoid answering any more questions. Bella looked amazed.
"Okay, you have to teach me how to do that." Ely nodded and with what sounded like a goodnight, rolled over again and went straight to sleep.
Ely woke up the next morning with a start, Severus' dead body kept her tossing and turning throughout the night. She guessed that dawn was about to break so she sat up, got ready in her school robes, and made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Hopefully she would be able to get a morning stroll in before classes.
Halfway to the Great Hall, Lucius crossed paths with Ely. She tried to get pass him politely, but he just smiled at her.
"You know, a pretty girl like you should not be out in the halls alone. Anyone could just come and attack from anywhere, especially since you don't know your way around yet." He attempted to brush the hair out of her face, but she quickly gave him the other cheek.
"I can defend myself rather well, thank you very much." Again, she tried to walk past him, but instead he stopped in front of her and held is arm out to her. "You won't leave me alone, will you?"
Lucius smirked, "Like I said, a pretty girl like you shouldn't be roaming around by herself. Besides…" This time he leaned in close to her, "you are roaming around half an hour sooner than allowed, and I would hate to see Slytherin lose house points."
Sighing, Ely took his arm and the two of them walked together to the Great Hall. Lucius tried to make small talk, which Ely only replied in short and to the point answers. This didn't seem to bother him however, seeing as once the reached their destination Lucius was smiling very broadly. He had intended to open the door for her, but as soon as he had to reach for it, the door opened to reveal the Headmaster.
"Ah, Miss Taylor, I was just about to go and look for you in the Slytherin common room." He smiled with a twinkle in her eye, while Lucius visibly tensed. "Mr. Malfoy, you don't mind if I take away Miss Taylor? There is a pressing issue I must speak to her about."
Lucius nodded and quickly turned into the Great Hall, a sour look on his face. Ely sighed in relief, only to hear Dumbledore chuckle.
"Please, let's come to my office." They walked to the staircase leading up to Dumbledore's office, Dumbledore saying the password "time travel", and off they were into his office.
"I received some very interesting news last night after the feast, from my future self." Dumbledore started when they had gotten comfortable. "He said that things were starting to change, but he wasn't sure if it was good or bad yet." He smiled as Ely paled. "I know you have the knowledge of the future, and due to your character as I had once seen, I can only hope you are making the changes necessary to help the future."
"But how did you know Professor?" Ely gave Dumbledore a confused look, which made him chuckle softly and the twinkle in his eye shine.
"Loyalty is the one trait you value most above all others, which is why you were originally placed in Hufflepuff. However, it was your desire to keep a certain someone as close as possible is what made you Slytherin this time around." Ely blushed while mumbling something along the lines of 'Slytherins can be loyal too.'
They ate together as Ely told him as much as she could about what she knew of the future, and by the time she finished, Dumbledore had a very thoughtful look on his face.
"My dear, I believed you have just saved a few hundred lives by telling me what you know. There may well be a chance that you never have to see such a tragic future." He set his tea down and stood up. "You are welcomed to stay in my office, although I don't know how entertaining the office can be without Fawkes around."
Ely stood up, "Professor, I think I would rather take a walk along the shore of the lake if that is alright."
"Quite alright. After all, you do take after your name Elanora." He handed her a slip, "You may walk around the lake when dawn breaks, but you still need to be in bed by curfew. That should give you enough time to collect your thoughts." Ely smiled brightly at Professor Dumbledore as she turned to leave when he said "Pay Hagrid a visit won't you? He gets lonely sometimes too." Ely turned around and nodded before opening the door to exit.