CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
↳ moons and attempted snogs

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There are many questions to be asked if you saw the strange group ascending from the Shrieking Shack. Too many, in fact. What were they doing with a mass murderer? Why were they following some cats? Why are two girls holding hands? So many meaningful questions, too little time. Of course, time was endless, but life isn't endless. It would take a full lifetime to answer the questions belonging to an individual. Elara was holding tightly onto Hermione's hand, walking cautiously down the pathway, careful to not fall down by accident. Somehow the group managed it, awkward moments when Ron or Remus had to move but nevertheless it went alright. The only sound other than their footsteps was the sound of Snape's head hitting the ceiling, every once in a while Elara snickering as her dad did nothing to prevent it.

"Are you okay?" Hermione suddenly whispered out. She had turned her attention onto Elara, vibrant brown shinning in the darkness.

"Me?" Elara laughed. "I'm peachy, 'Mione,"

"You're shaking,"

She was, in fact, shaking. Elara didn't even notice, her hands trembling and her eyes watering unconsciously. "El, tell me I'm not a telepath," Hermione turned to the brown skinned girl who was looking down at her feet.

"I wish you were," she sniffled out. She bit her lip. "I just can't believe this at all," she sighed out, heavy in thought for a moment.

"It must be nice," Hermione replied shortly. "You really really deserve this, having both your dads back," Elara had not thought about what she'd do from here. Not many people knew she was related to Sirius through adoption. Cedric, Morgan, Lois, Gaia, Daphne and Wisteria knew, but that was about it. She'd also have to acknowledge that she's, by adoption, Draco Malfoy's third cousin. The thought alone make her want to denounce herself.

"I haven't thought about much," she started, her hand still shaking but being held firmly by Hermione's hand. "Maybe see a film? Just be a family? I really don't know, it's just nice that I get to have him back again," she said 'again', heavily. Her whole façade of being okay was taken from her when Hermione turned to her and saw some tears fall down her cheeks.

She reached up, smoothing her cheek with her thumb and wiping away her tears. "You shouldn't cry, but if you want to cry any more, you have my shoulder to cry on," for a few moments, the two girls remained in blushing silence. They eyes averted away and when Remus turned back to look at Elara, who he had heard sniffling, he saw their interweave hands and smiled. Hermione and Elara reminded him so much of his love for Sirius, it felt like history was repeating in a way. "You should smile, I really love your smile," Elara's lips turned upwards and she tearfully beamed at Hermione Granger. For a moment, time became theirs to manipulate. For a moment, whether it be an hour, a minute or even a split-second, Elara Lily Lupin ( or well, Lupin-Black ) was the only person who really mattered in Hermione Granger's small world. For a moment, her smile became both her sun and moon, eternal and true, her eyes became her stars, twinkling and bright, and she was just her world, making her whole and allowing her to live.

Laurie, who was being held in Elara's one arm, meowed out and gently clawed her arm. She placed him down and he joined Crookshanks, pressing the knot of the truck and allowing the group to clamber up, being left untouched by the branches. Everywhere was shrouded with darkness, it looked almost eternal.

"It's so wondrous being out so late," Elara breathed out, some wind messing her hair and making the hair on her arm stand up. Everything had a new image when it was night. It was so peaceful, no screaming or laughter, just themselves and the benevolence of the night. Sirius turned to look at the awe on his daughter's face and beamed at her happiness. The only sounds were Pettigrew's wheezing and occasionally whimpering as he was soon going to be found guilty of a crime he must've believed he'd get away with.

"One wrong move, Peter," Remus told the whimpering man threateningly. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest. If he made one wrong move, it would be his last move.

For a moment, everyone remained in reckless innocent. No one thought to wonder why Snape had brought a goblet full of wolfbane potions. That was mistake number one. Elara didn't know why she forgot tonight, she always marked the dates on her calendar, always checked in with her papa. But this month, she had been so caught up in her bliss, that she didn't check her calendar. Her gaze on the night sky changed as she watched the clouds dance away. Her eyes, once filled with joy and wonder, were replaced with horror. Their party was bathed in the unwelcoming moonlight, the orb in the sky screaming down at them unpleasantly. Everyone froze and felt their hearts pound in their chests. Sirius' mind was racing, thoughts once occupied with his soon to be revealed innocence replaced with thoughts about what was going to happen. Would Elara get hurt? Would they all be okay? He flung his arm in front of the three.

Elara felt her breathe hitch when she saw Remus' limbs start to shake, she man who was cursed to become this wolf once a month crying out in pain as his limbs coursed with searing red pain. She knew the process was painful, so painful to not even comprehend, but she never had the intentions of witnessing that pain. "Oh, my -" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"

"Run," Sirius whispered, looking down at Elara and Harry in particular, eyes filled with so much fear and worry for them all. "Run. Now." But no one ran. How could they? Even with a werewolf transformation endangering themselves, Ron was still chained up to Remus. They couldn't leave a friend. How could they? Remus leaped forward, only to be held back by Sirius. "Leave it to me - RUN!" Elara couldn't watch. She buried her head into Hermione, shutting her eyes and only wishing she didn't have to hear Remus' snarls and cries of pain. She hated the moon for what she did to her papa, the cruelty in such a beautiful thing was so strange. She could only hear the yelps that came from two dogs- assuming her dad had gone to pull the werewolf away. She felt so awful, terrified as Laurie's head prodded her exposed ankle and lulled her away from her terrors.

For a moment, everyone remained silent, Elara softly crying at the sound of her dads snarls and howls. But those soft cries and the intensive howling were interrupted by Hermione's scream as Pettigrew attempted to seize Remus' wand. There was a bang, a shuttering bang. Ron laid motionless on the ground. Then, the bang sounded again. Crookshanks flew into the air and back to the earth in a heap.

"Expelliarmus." Harry yelled, Remus' wand flew high into the air and out of sight. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted, running forward. But he wouldn't stay put.

"HARRY HE WON'T FUCKING LISTEN!" Elara yelled out in a state of emergency. "PETRIFY HIM OR SOMETHING!" She was shaking so badly, fumbling for her wand, only to drop it out on the floor, and, of course as she predicted, Pettigrew scurried away, hurrying through the grass. Elara had no clue where Laurie was, she could only hope he'd find Pettigrew. He was their only chance of proving her dad's innocence. As much as they didn't need him for a lifetime, he had a minimal purpose right now. The sound of a howl and an echoing growl made her turn around, her hair sprawling in her face as she looked towards where her papa was galloping off to.

"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry screamed out.

Elara turned and saw the gashes all across his muzzle and back, thick and red, decorating his dark fur sporadically. Elara didn't know how to react. She felt upset, shocked and horrified all at the same time. "Dad!" The sound of his paws pounded away immediately, echoing less and less as they moved away. Elara and the two Gryffindor's dashed over to Ron.

"What did he do to him?" Hermione whispered. Mouth hung open, eyes looking forward and half open, he was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing, but he didn't seem to recognize them, trapped in a gaze filled with emptiness.

"I don't know..."

"I think he was stunned," Elara mumbled out, waving her head over Ron's face. "Yeah, definitely stunned. Poor Ron," she turned to where Harry was, the boy's head rapidly shifting around looking cautiously.

"We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone," said Harry, pushing his hair out of his eyes, trying to think straight. "Come -" but then, from beyond the range of their vision, they heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain... "Sirius," Harry muttered, staring into the cold darkness.

Elara looked up at him for a moment, eyes growing more and more worried as the yelping continued. "Shit," For a moment, everyone was still in place and then Harry set off at a run, Hermione and Elara, still holding hands, right behind him. The yelping seemed to be coming from the ground near the edge of the lake. For a moment, they all ran towards him. For a moment, they ignored the needs to get back to the castle, to get back to safety. For a moment, they felt the inexorable coldness that fell all over their bodies.

The yelping stopped as they were bathed in the unkind coldness dementors held in their grasp. Sirius had turned back into a man, crouched on all fours, his hands over his head as he cried out, "Nooo... Nooo... please..." Elara's breathe hitched and her body shook from the malicious coldness. Dementors. All of them, gliding in their great black towards them.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Elara yelled out, grabbing her wand out. Similarly, Harry also held his wand out. Elara didn't know what she heard. There was screaming, crying, she had no clue who she was hearing. They sounded in anguish, like a dream she had years ago about a strange man and his screams, perhaps this was just a dream of a dream that she had dreamt long ago?

"Hermione, think of something happy!" Hermione raised her wand and tried copying him. Harry knew fully well that Elara knew what to do, she had seen him do it before and the screaming she did proved his thoughts.

"Expecto patronum! Expecto patronum!" The screaming was growing louder, thundering terribly in her ears. She resisted the urge to hold her hands over her ears.

"Expecto patronum!" Dementors really were the worst. Their deathly masks full of darkness laid near them, thin, bone like hands grasping onto the air and clinging on with death's painful grasp. Elara tried thinking happy thoughts, she tried imagining how happy she felt when she realised he was innocent. She tried thinking about the nights spent laughing with her friends and enjoying chocolate. But those memories weren't powerful, at least not under the intensity of the depressing spell these dementors casted on them.

"Expecto patronum! Hermione, help me! Expecto patronum!"

"Expecto -" Hermione whispered, "Expecto - Expecto -" they kept growing closer and closer. He didn't do anything, Elara wanted to scream out at the top of her lungs. She wanted to cast a proper Patronus and witness the dazzling light for herself as it ushered away the beings. She wanted nothing more than to drive them away, but she couldn't. Why couldn't she?

The Dementors were closing in, barely ten feet from them and the closer they got, the worst she felt. She just wanted to disappear and become an essence of a memory, she wanted to remain an untouched fragment, unaffected by the torturous reality. They formed a solid wall around Harry, Elara and Hermione, and were getting closer and closer, the air getting colder and colder. There was one goal in what they were attempting: to perform a deadly snog on her father, believing he's a guilty man.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry yelled out. Elara tried paying attention to anything but the screaming and crying in her head. She copied him, almost in sync. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Nothing left her wand. No wisps, no pure light, no animal, nothing. She tried her best to keep her mind on the thoughts travelling happily in her mind, but she couldn't. How on earth could she focus? Hermione had collapsed. She called out the witch's name, eyes full of fear as the She took her words away from saying the incantation and felt her head spin. She felt alone in those moments, hidden in waves of sadness and chills that poked and pricked her. She tried focusing on saying the words again, maybe she could do it? She tried holding that hope. But as the coldness threw over her, the more she lost hope.

"Please he's i-innocent!" She cried out, pointing her wand fearlessly yet fearfully at the death creatures. "Expect-Expecto patronum!" She wished she could do it. Elara Lily Lupin wished for many things because once upon a time, she believed wishes came true. Once upon a time, she believed in those silly tales that if you wish hard enough, you'd have all your hopes and dreams. Well, those wishes definitely should come true. Her voice was no longer silk, instead it was harsh as she yelled out the incantation, chanting it like a repetitive mantra.

And then she felt cold, dark and the screaming of the unknown people grew more and more loud and all she could do was cower in terror in her deepest, darkest thoughts that seemed to last an eternity, enveloping her into a dark abyss that filled her entire gaze.

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me in my previous chapters: 7000 words
me in this chapter - 2200 words 😭✋

everyone: walking to take peter to the school
no one:
not a single soul:
not even agatha harkness who it was all along:
Elara and Hermione: have a cute moment and Remus ONCE AGAIN spots it

Okay but like I'm nearly done with poa and oh my god I'm so emotionally attached to poa! elara-

I also finished gof and put it down when Cedric became deadric 😭 pls tell me where Voldemort had the audacity to kill such a perfect baby 😭

WANDAVISION IS MAKING ME CRY SO MUCH GUYS- I have a character that'll appear near the end of ootp that's kinda inspired by agatha and like- take it or leave it I guess-

Also I'd like to know what times would be more convenient for me to post a chapter, so like maybe comment with your time zone or the time you are reading at? For me, I live in Wales and so like it's 11:40pm right now ( time of writing )

IF THERE IS ANY ERRORS IN THIS CHAPTER, ILL EDIT THEM LATER

I ALSO NEED A FACE CLAIM FOR ETHAN, THE BOY WHO ASKED OUR DEAR LESBIAN ELARA OUT- SOMEONE HELP ME WITH THAT- HE HAS BLONDE HAIR

THANK YOU ALL SO SO SO MUCH FOR 10K- I LITERALLY CRIED WHEN I SAW I REACHED 10K- THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE FOR ME! THANK YOU ALL SO SO MUCH !
now gonna listen to abba so adios I guess-