Elara was no longer welcomed at the Malfoy residence. She was sent a letter, which she refused to open until it was inspected, that informed her the next time she was seen in Malfoy Manor she would be terminated.
She was not upset.
That house had always been an absolute nightmare for her and she always dreaded going there in the summer. She however had no where else to stay, which she didn't tell anyone.
She hugged Draco goodbye on the train and waited until him and her parents had left the station to exit the train. She walked on to the platform and she said bye to Ginny, who then walked away with her family.
Then it was just her and Harry. He was almost positive his Aunt and Uncle weren't going to get him because of what happened last summer with the Dementors. They had told him they never wanted him back in their house. He informed Elara that they had said things like that before and then picked him up but this time seemed different.
"There you are. Come on."
The voice belonged to one Sirius Black who had been exonerated of his crimes and was now allowed in public. Elara looked over at him. Harry smiled and ran over to hug him, trunk in hand. They began to walk away and then Sirius turned around.
"What are you doing? Let's go." He said, laughing.
"Wait, you want me to come with you?" Elara asked.
"Yeah. You have anywhere else to be?" Sirius asked.
"Well no."
"Then let's go home." He turned and began to walk. Elara jumped up and then ran forward with her trunk catching up to them.
"Wait, home?"
"Yeah. You two are coming to live with me, which Dumbledore was not happy about however I told him I was going to take you two with me if you were still there 1 hour after the train dropped you off. Here you are so I'm taking you home." Sirius replied, putting his arm over both of their shoulders and pulling them closer.
"Let me get this straight. You want a death eater in your home?" Elara asked.
"Our home and you're not a death eater. You were and even then you didn't want to be. I read your interview. You're no more a death eater than Harry or me."
Elara couldn't help but smile as they apperated to Grimuald Place.
"Sirius!" Elara yelled from her bedroom.
"Yeah?" He called back
"Are we still going to Diagon Alley today?"
"Yes." He called back. Elara descended the stairs and watched as Harry passed her sliding down the railing, as he did every morning. Elara walked into the kitchen and poured her tea in her cup and then grabbed an apple.
"Why do you eat green apples?" Harry asked.
"Why do you eat red apples?" Elara retorted.
"Because red apples are good. Green apples are not."
"You, my lovely best friend, are so very wrong." Elara said, as a matter o' factly ,throwing a red apple at him. He caught it and took a bite.
"Hey. I thought I was your best friend!" Ginny claimed from behind her. Elara turned and then smiled. She ran at Ginny and hugged her. They pulled away and stared into each others eyes.
"Okay love birds. Let's get going." George laughed. Elara glared at him and then grabbed her apple once more. Harry smiled and hugged Ron and Hermione. Elara smiled at them politely. Hermione hugged her and Ron did as well, but more reluctantly.
"Sirius, you ready?" Elara called. Sirius came through the door from the kitchen.
"As I'll ever be."
Elara didn't really imagine she would spend her entire time getting her things for school dodging her parents. She wished she could go see Draco but he seemed to be attached to them for some reason. He also looked different. Elara frowned and looked at Harry, who had seemed to notice it too.
She never actually the chance to see him which made her angry. Something was up with him and Elara knew exactly what it was.
"I got a letter from my mum yesterday." Elara told Sirius, walking into the dining room. He straightened up and then set the newspaper he had been reading down.
"What did it say?" He asked. Elara threw the letter on the table.
"I'm guessing you knew Severus wasn't my only godfather?" Elara asked. Sirius gulped and looked up at her. She stared down at him.
"Yes. I did."
"Any particular reason you didn't tell me you were my godfather?" She asked. Sirius hesitated for a moment. He stood up and grabbed her hand
"Your father didn't know, he still doesn't. Your mother is my cousin, which I'm sure you knew, and she came came to me late one night, very pregnant, and very afraid. She told me she was afraid for you and your brothers safety. She asked me if I would be you and Draco's godfather. I said yes."
"That's why you were so concerned on whether I was hurt or not." Elara murmured.
"That was part of it but you were also related to me. Your well being was important to me." Sirius told her, moving the hair out of her face.
"Do you regret saying yes?" Elara asked, laughing dryly.
"Not for one second. You and Harry are the most important things in my life, Draco too. He will always have a place with me. Always. Your father is a bad man, he never treated your mother right. She was always kind to me, kinder than my own brother. Her and I used to lie in my room when they stayed here and talk for hours. We would laugh about everything but when she started dating your father she started to become more fearful, flinching at everything. She stopped smiling as much. I never liked Lucius."
"He's not the greatest father." Elara told him. Sirius stood up and began putting water in the kettle. He placed it on the stove. He walked over to Elara and kissed her on the forehead before passing her and grabbing three mugs, one for each of the people in the house.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't know if your mother wanted you to know. I felt it was her business to tell you." He explained. Elara smiled.
"She told me to tell you she's sorry."
"What, why?" Sirius asked, turning to face Elara.
"She knew it was Wormtail, who gave away the Potters. She wishes she had said something, to get you out." Elara explained, standing up and grabbing the tea, and then setting the can down next to the mugs.
"It wouldn't have done anything but gotten her beaten by her husband. It wouldn't have changed the outcome. She did the best she could with the situation she was in."
That's when there was banging on the front door.
Elara furrowed her brows and looked at Sirius. He looked towards the front of the house and then to Elara. She nodded her head and began to follow Sirius to the door. Harry descended the stairs and looked at them.
"Who could that be?" He asked. Elara shook her head.
"No idea."
The three of them walked cautiously to the door, wands at the ready. Sirius looked at Elara and nodded his head. She threw the door open and they threw up their wands. The blonde raised his hands in surrender, barely and flinched as he did so.
"Draco?" Elara asked. Everyone lowered their wands and looked at him. He was standing there, cut and bruised, covered in blood, and he had the dark mark on his forearm.
"I'm sorry." He muttered before collapsing.
"Draco!" Harry yelled, running to him. He picked him up and brought him inside. He set him on the couch and Elara ran into the kitchen, grabbing a wet rag. She threw it at Harry and he began dabbing his head with the cloth. Sirius ran to grab his medical kit and Elara looked at her brother in worry.
The tea kettle screamed.
Elara cleaned his cuts and she looked him over.
"Why was there so much blood?" Sirius asked, handing her the tea he had been making before Draco arrived. "What did they do to him?"
"It wasn't all his, in fact I think most of it wasn't." Elara replied solemnly, standing up and taking a deep breath.
"Who's was it?" Harry asked, shocked.
"I have no idea." Elara admitted. She rubbed her forehead, looked at her brother and then took a sip of her tea.
"You never answered." Sirius murmured. Elara looked at him.
"Hmm?"
"What did they do to him?" He asked solemnly. Elara swallowed.
"Well, he had three broken ribs and a lot of shallow stabs. He had several cuts." Elara took a deep breath. "The word traitor is etched on his arm and he has bruises everywhere, the worst on his neck and thighs."
Elara looked down at the ground and Harry looked as if he was about to vomit. He set his tea down on the sill of the fireplace
"Oh my god." He muttered. Sirius closed his eyes and began to speak.
"Did they r-"
"No. They wouldn't do that, they're cruel but they would never touch someone they saw as a traitor in that way, it would be seen as wrong. I think they just wanted to torture him." Elara interrupted Sirius before he could even say the word.
"That's disgusting."
"There were also very deep lacerations on his back." Elara told them. "My guess is they whipped him in the same spot hundreds of times. And, knowing their methods of torture from experience, my guess is the cruciatus curse was used at least 15 times."
It was quiet and then she continued
"At a minimum"
That was the breaking point. Harry, in a fit of rage, swiped everything off of the desk all at once. Elara flinched. Sirius ran over and grabbed him from behind. He held him as Harry began to fall. He was sobbing. It had to hurt, seeing the man he loved like this. Elara felt for him.
Harry sat on the ground, in Sirius' arms, silently crying. That was until Draco groaned.
Elara dropped her mug, glass shattering, and ran over to him. She kneeled next to the couch and wiped the hair on Draco's forehead. Elara laughed through her tears.
"Hey you." She murmured. She continued to wipe his forehead as he opened his eyes. He looked sleepily at his sister.
"Elara?" He whispered harshly.
"Yeah Dray, it's me." She told him.
He smiled.
Draco took a day of recovery and sleep before he came down for breakfast the next morning. Sirius handed him a cup of tea and he sat down. Harry sat next to him, their hands on the table top, folded together.
"Am I at Grimuald?" He asked. Elara nodded her head. "Mum told me about Sirius and then she told me to come here right before they came into my room and took me."
"Took you where?" Elara asked.
"The dungeons. They tortured me for days."
"Why?"
"They knew I was going to leave."
"How did you get out?" Sirius asked. Draco closed his eyes.
"After a few days of being being in the dungeons they brought her in. They made me watch as they-" he stopped and took a deep breath. "They stabbed her to death."
Elara's breath hitched.
"Who?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
"I listen to her scream for hours and hours as they tortured her. Stabbed her, beat her, used the cruciartis on her. Lucius watched in horror, almost in tears. He's the one who released me." Draco looked down at the ground and Harry squeezed his hand.
"Who did they stab?" She continued. Draco looked at her sympathetically.
"She looked at me so lovingly in her final moments, as she was bleeding out. She smiled at me and she told me she loved me and she knew I would do great things. She told me to tell you that she is so proud of you for standing up for what it right and being who you are and she will watch over us. She said she loved you. Then they dragged her out of the room and then I heard her scream one final time."
Elara threw her chair back as she stood up and slammed her hand on the table.
"Who did they kill?!"
She knew the answer.
She hated the answer.
The answer was vomit inducing and as Draco looked up at her she began to stumble back.
"Our mother."
Scream.
Elara fell to the ground.
Her world was crumbling around her.
Nobody could comfort her.
Nobody could help her.
She wanted her mum. Her mum used to hold her at night and sing when she was upset. She used to tell her everything was going to be alright. She used to hold her hand under the table while Voldemort spoke to them.
She felt hollow.
"Elara?"
This voice didn't belong to any of the boys but to Ginny. Elara raised her head and looked at her. The room was light, it was around noon. Ginny sat down and pulled Elara into her.
"Gin." Elara cried.
"I'm so sorry Elara. I'm so so sorry." Ginny muttered. Elara felt sick.
"My mother is-" She let out a shaky breath and took another. She felt her tears falling on her face. "My mother is dead."
"I know my love."
She cried in Ginny's arms.