Restoration

Chapter Six

***

-Then-

"He's just a boy," Narcissa Malfoy muttered. She and her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, had traveled in secret that night. Both a part of the famous Black family, they carried a heavy burden on their shoulders, constantly making sure they kept the family name intact and proud. Narcissa married Lucious at first out of comfort, as he was a suitable suitor in her parents' eyes, growing fond of each other within time. Her sister, Bellatrix, had a similar story, marrying into the Lestrange family to gain respect from her parents.

Narcissa had, either intentionally or unintentionally, imprinted the same morals and goals into her son Draco. Unlike her husband Lucious, Narcissa was never personally invested or agreed to be a part of the Death Eaters. She had unconditionally supported her husband and made her sacrifices, up until it started ruining her own family, the most important thing in her life. 

With Lucious imprisoned in Azkaban, she had to fend for herself and her son.

When the Dark Lord called for Draco to be turned into a Death Eater, Narcissa decided to protect him at all costs, as she didn't wish for her son to repeat his parents' mistakes.

"It might be possible for me to help Draco," Snape reassured her as Narcissa's mouth widened into a grateful smile.

"Swear to it," coldly ordered Bellatrix, "make the unbreakable vow."

Always so direct, Bellatrix left them speechless as she prowled around the room, continuing with her speech on how she was positive that Snape would back out at the end when Draco would have to fulfill his promise and kill Dumbledore.

"Take out your wand," sneered Snape.

Moments later, Bellatrix created the unbreakable vow between Severus Snape and Narcissa Malfoy. And should Snape fail to protect Draco, by killing Dumbledore himself, he would die himself too.

***

She woke up before the dawn, wanting to be outside the chambers before her roommates sleepily yawned, waking up to their enchanted alarm clocks. Pestering little things they were, jumping around the room and onto their beds, parading around until someone physically got up and caught them. It was usually Tracey who was running around the room to catch it after Pansy screeched at her.

Ever since Pensy declared a silent war on Elara, they ceased to communicate, excluding the daily sassy remarks, of course. Aware of the rumours that she was spreading, she didn't want to add any more oil onto the burning fire -she also didn't care for it. Harmless, although annoying, school rumours circulated and echoed around the castle. As soon as one started, the previous one began to die out, or it had so many new versions of it, one would lose track. But that wasn't the reason for Elara's current insomnia. She'd been pondering about one particular line which she heard in class one day.

"Many wizards, who didn't have a solid group of people who supported them, went rogue," McGonagall lectured one day.

The majority of students created their friend groups within the first week of their stay, traditionally within their houses. Some students were friendlier with other houses, some weren't. It wasn't taboo to have friends from other houses, and as the classes were mixed, it was encouraged to work with different people. The Sorting Hat sorted a wizard or a witch into one house, with distinguishable traits, but that didn't mean they would do well in other houses as well.

Elara had made a few friends in her first year at Hogwarts, bonding with people from other houses as well as from Slytherin. Even though her parents were both Gryffindors
, it wasn't that odd for her to be put into Merlin's house. One significant trait that most Slytherins either inherited or grew to idolise was the glorification of pure-bloods. Raised by a muggle-born and a half-blood, she also had half-blood running through her veins, which was an easy and slightly worn-out insult. Some professors punished those who used those vulgar insults, while others, who sympathized with the ideology in silence, remained neutral.