EPHEMERAL [2]

12; ST. MUNGO'S

When Theodore opened the front door to Number 12 Grimmauld Place with the rest of his Slytherin friends and Hermione behind him, he was not expecting to see a familiar looking broom in the hallway and beside it, a suitcase.

"Is that-" Bianca pushed past him, looking at the broom closely.

"I thought she wasn't getting here until later." Daphne frowned, confused.

"Seems not." Theodore replied. Sirius appeared out of the kitchen and closed the door behind him, walking towards the teenagers. He hugged Theodore and greeted the rest of them with a smile, before noticing them looking over at the suitcase and broom.

"See you've noticed who's here." He smiled.

"Is she actually here?" Theodore asked.

"Yeah. She got here late last night. Arthur Weasley was attacked by a snake while on duty for the Order. Harry saw it all. Ginny sent El a letter, and El came here last night. She's probably still asleep in the living room. Harry wasn't feeling too good, so she just sat with him, and they both fell asleep." Sirius explained.

Just as he finished, the door to the kitchen opened and a messy haired Elara Black walked out. Her uniform was all ruffled, and her hair sticking up at the top. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Hey, Dad? Can I get some coffee?"

She hadn't even noticed the crowd stood by the door. "El, love?"

"Hmm?" She still had her eyes closed.

"Want to maybe look at who's here?"

"Who?" She opened her eyes and they widened when she saw who was stood there. "Oh. Hi?"

"El!" Bianca launched herself at her friend who barely caught her. "I missed you!"

"Ow." Elara whined as Bianca hugged her tightly. "I missed you too, but I'm really, really sore from training."

Her brunette best friend let her go and looked at her uniform. "Nice outfit."

"Yeah, thanks. Didn't have time to get changed last night. I fell asleep on the couch." Elara yawned once more. "I'm still tired."

"We can tell." Blaise called from behind his sister. Elara pulled a face in his direction before his expression softened at the sight of her boyfriend and she opened her arms, gesturing for him to hug her.

He did so happily, tucking his head in the crook of her neck and letting his arms wrap tightly around her waist, brushing his thumb gently on the small of her back. Then, he pulled back slightly and looked at her uniform in awe.

"Wow."

"Nice, huh?"

"Very cool." Theodore nodded.

"You all do realise we saw her a week ago." Blaise deadpanned.

"Yeah, yeah, come on. Bring it in." Elara motioned for him to hug her and he rolled his eyes but did so anyways. "I missed you too."

Then, she turned to the two sisters stood there as well and hugged them. "Right, I need to get changed because I stink. See you all in a bit for breakfast."

She summoned her broom and her suitcase before Apparating to her bedroom. There, she stood her broom up against the wall and opened her suitcase to pull out something to wear. After a hot shower, she got dressed in some black jeans and a grey sweater.

She ran a comb through her hair and then messed it up slightly with her fingers before slipping her boots on and sticking her wand in her boot. She headed downstairs to find everyone sat in the kitchen, so she took a seat beside Theodore and immediately poured herself a mug of coffee, which she sipped on while Molly Weasley made breakfast.