- Chapter Twelve -
"Do you need any help tonight? With the full moon?"

It was a very restless night for Elladora, she couldn't get to sleep, at all. Falling asleep had never been a problem for her, but now it was, she couldn't understand why. Dawn began to crack and she could now tell that it was the early hours of the morning, still no sign of falling asleep, even when she got in the most comfortable position possible and pulled her covers over her head, there was still no way she was going to.

She settled on humming a small tune to herself whilst the other girls slept, it was no song in particular, just a gentle melody, that soothed her greatly. It was slow and serene as she stared up at the ceiling of the dorm, her eyes drooping closed and sleep eventually took over her.

But because all good things come to an end, she woke up what felt like 2 seconds later, to the hustling and bustling of her dorm mates getting changed and going down to breakfast, ready to start the Tuesday. She was still tired, obviously because she had gotten so little sleep in what felt like so little time.

Nonetheless, she rose from her comfortable duvet and grabbed her towels and her uniform, heading to the showers, where she did her daily thinking. Today's was her anxiety affecting her mind, what if, what if, what if. What if her mother found out that she tried to off herself? What if she was needed to go home sooner? What if she grew too close to someone, the marauder, per say and she put them in danger?

Not being able to take any more of the pressure building up on her, Elladora stepped turned off the water and grabbed her towel from the outside, drying her body as well as her long, brown, hair. After her naked body was more or less dry, she took her bra and underwear and slipped them on, picking up her long-sleeved blouse next, pulling it over her arms and doing the buttons. After they were her tights, she slipped them over her size 6 feet and pulled them up her legs, slipping on her shoes afterwards so her clothed feet didn't get wet. Her skirt was next, so she stepped into it and pulled it up, over her blouse so it was tucked in. Her fingers pulled the zip up, securing it around her waist as she moved to the singular button next, tightening it even more.

The tie was next. She tied it skilfully and hummed in approval as she pushed it up so it was right against her top button, making her uniform look even more presentable as she pulled her jumper over her head and primped it.

Elladora gathered up her pyjamas and her damp towels, putting them in the hamper that was placed in every dorm bathroom. She exited the showers and made a beeline for her wand, only two girls remained in the dorm, whispering to each other as they left without a word to her.

"Crinus Muto." She muttered and her wet hair slinked down into straight strands that flowed down the back of her head. Her cloak that was hanging on the cloak hook, was seized by her as she pulled it on, grabbing her bag and slipping out of the room without another look back.

The girl exited the dungeons swiftly, brushing past some third-years who were making fun someone from Hufflepuff house by the sound of it. Never one to get involved, Elladora brushed it off and continued her path towards the Great Hall for breakfast. She came across many couples that were staring at each other with such adoration in their eyes that she wanted to be sick. Fortunately, she did not see any of her fellow Slytherin's that loved to taunt her, only Isadora Burke, who just simply gave her a look, one she did not return. Elladora was better than that.

When she arrived to the great hall, she hesitated for a moment, glancing between her house table and the Gryffindor table, where her four...friends...were sat, not having noticed her presence yet. She cautiously made her way over to the table she wanted to sit at, plopping down on the bench and reaching straight for her goblet, bringing it up to her lips.

"Hi, Elladora." Peter smiled at her, biting some of his toast as the other boys looked up, also smiling at and greeting the Slytherin, who got herself a bowl of porridge and started to eat it. She lifted her hand and gave a meek wave.

"You should try some sugar with that." Sirius said, pushing over a sugar bowl to her. She looked at the white grains and frowned, she had never had sugar before.

"No, thank you." She said quietly and went back to her oats as the boys began to converse, muttering to each other. At one point, Remus turned and smile at her, receiving a nod in response as she started to feel slightly out of place.

These boy were talking about something, obviously secretive. Elladora got ready to finish her porridge and leave, she figured that they wanted their privacy and that's what she would give them. The last spoonful of porridge glided down her throat as she looked up again at the boys, who had stopped talking to one another.

"So Elladora," Sirius started, looking up at her as the rest did too. "Your name...it's a bit of a mouthful, is there a nickname you prefer to go by?" He asked and she slowly shook her head.

"Well," James piped up, leaning forward so the girl could see him and his round spectacles more clearly. "We're going to have to give you one." He said and she froze slightly, ready for the odd names they might throw at her.

"Elladora, let's see. Ella...no, too boring," Sirius began to mutter under his breath. "Dora...Dora, that's unique." He suggested and the boys nodded fervently, turning to face the girl herself, who was thinking over the name.

"Okay." She nodded and the long-haired boy's face broke out into a smile and he grinned at her, his perfect, white teeth on display. "Dora." The name sounded so unfamiliar that it didn't even sound like she was talking about herself.

"Dora, it is." Remus grinned and she took notice of the bags under his eyes and the forced smile, the full moon was tonight, he must be absolutely shattered.

"Do you need any help tonight?" She asked slowly, hesitantly pouring herself another bowl of porridge, she was afraid of looking greedy but she just couldn't get enough of the stuff. "With the full moon?"

James and Peter froze, slowly turning their heads whilst Remus and Sirius were quick to protest, telling her that it was too dangerous, to which she gave them a bored look but just left it, returning to her porridge, with a sense of relief and worry, relief because of she helped them then she would probably get attached, and worry because no matter how long they had been doing this, they could get severely injured.

"You know?" Peter asked her before turning to Remus. "She knows?"

"She's always known." He shrugged, glancing at her as she also glanced up at him, gulping nervously as owls started to fly through a window. She waited awkwardly for the big black owl, but it didn't come and she visibly relaxed, returning to her second bowl of porridge.

"You okay?" Remus whispered down to her, leaning closer in case she didn't want to share it with the others. She kept her gaze on her breakfast and didn't dare look up.

"Fine." She answered, gathering her bag and standing up from the Gryffindor table. "I have to go."

The four boys watched as she gracefully left the hall, her cloaks billowing behind her as she passed a couple of Ravenclaws on her way out. "Progress." Sirius grinned and dug into his toast, smearing butter and jam all around his mouth.

"I don't know guys, I feel like we're all laying it on a bit thick." Remus smiled unsurely. "I mean, she's new to all of this, you can tell, yet she is trying her best. Maybe we should take it slow and not bombard her with questions or new things. She needs to adjust." He said and they all stared at him for a moment before their heads nodded up and down, a sign of agreement.

"Once again wondering why Moony's not in Ravenclaw." James laughed and glanced down the table at Lily Evans, who was talking with Marlene McKinnon. "Sirius, there's McKinnon." He nudged his best friend and pointed down the table.

"So?" The boy furrowed his eyebrows, his mouth filled with food as he talked to James.

"Go talk to her." He pushed his friend, who protested, much to the other three's confusion.

"I don't like McKinnon, okay?"

"But you said you did." Peter said, glancing at the blonde and back to Sirius, pulling a face as he remembered the conversation they had just a couple of nights ago.

Sirius also remembered now and took a deep breath, obviously nervous. "I don't like McKinnon, because I...like someone else. You don't know them." He waved it off and returned to his breakfast, ignoring the expectant raised eyebrows of his friends.

"Give us a name." James laughed.

"That's a secret." Sirius replied, gulping nervously as he stuffed t rest of the toasted bread into his mouth and grabbed his bag, standing up from the table. "Ta-ta for now, boys." He mock saluted and left almost as quickly as Elladora did.

"Right then," James trailed off, confused by his friends sudden actions as he faced the other two. "Who's sitting with Dora in defence then?" He asked and Peter volunteered almost immediately.

"I'm likely to get worse as the day goes on, so I think I'm going to skip." Remus told them and they spent the rest of breakfast talking and planning on how to cheer Elladora up the most. They really wanted to do this for her. Really.

•*•*•*•*•

At the moment, Elladora wanted nothing to do with the boys, she was currently holed away in the library, skimming books about dark magic from the restricted section, finding out as much as she could about the organisation that she would be expected to join in Easter. She constantly looked up to the entrance of the library, or even just round the corners of shelves for anyone that could catch her reading the book.

She flipped another page, finding a piece of folded up parchment, it was fresh. Her eyebrows furrowed and she picked it up, unfolding it whilst looking around cautiously. She recognised the handwriting immediately, Severus.

Her sigh could've been heard from miles away as she scrunched up the notes on making a dangerous spell, throwing it away from her. This boy was making his own spell to injure people and she hated it. Snape had been good, for a while, he had always hung out with Lily Evans and looked happy when she was with her, despite the fact that he got bullied by the marauders.

Then last year, after their defence against the dark arts OWL exam, the four boys went after him, dangling him from midair as James asked Lily out right in front of him. Now, anyone could see that Severus liked Lily from a mile away, but Elladora saw it more as an obsession. Anyway, they dropped Snape and Lily went to help him, when he called her a mudblood and she snapped at him, storming off. That was when he started talking to Mulciber and Avery, obviously sneaking books out of the restricted section to learn how to make a dangerous spell.

"Dora?" A voice said from above and she snapped out of her trance, she released her teeth from her lip, which she had been biting as she stared into space and she closed the book with a snap, setting it down next to her.

She looked up to see Sirius standing next to her and she mentally rolled her eyes, ever since she agreed to be their friend, they had found her at every chance they got. She was all for them trying to cheer her up, maybe she was even a bit hopeful, but she honestly didn't see how that was possible when they kept crowding her.

"Mind if I sit?" He asked, gesturing to an empty chair and she debated it, taking a moment to weigh out the pros and cons. There were more cons at the moment. "I'll be totally quiet, I just needed to finish this essay." He held up parchment with some sentences on it and she reluctantly nodded, getting out her own essay to do, the learning could wait.

So Sirius sat down, in silence like he promised as he worked on his essay, glancing up at the girl and then to the book at her feet. He had seen the title and now he realised they had to work as quick as possible, they needed to make her better now, before it's too late.

•*•*•*•*•