Restoration

Chapter Eleven

***

Swishing past the paintings, Elara did not care if any of the professors discovered her lingering around after the curfew. She knew Luna and Anthony would get back inside with the help of the Marauders Map like they always did. She also knew they would be angry with her, and she was at risk of possibly losing their affection.

The only clue she had of Draco's whereabouts was her younger version mentioning the Astronomy tower, where she was headed to. The adrenaline was rushing through her bloodstream, giving her strength to sprint even past the point of exhaustion.

"Miss Dotson, what are you...-" Professor Slughorn exclaimed as she almost ran into him. Unlucky for him, he must've been in charge of guarding that section of the castle.

"I'm terribly sorry, professor," Elara stopped for a moment, confusing the professor even more. "Obliviate," she cast a forgetfulness charm, erasing the moment from Slughorn's mind.

As she ran upstairs, her mouth began to taste of iron, and she couldn't tell if it was because of her nosebleed or because she had been running for too long. Reaching the top, she found herself in front of the doors to Astronomy Tower's rooftop.

"Better take care of him first," she thought to herself, pressing down on the doorknob.

Looking around, she couldn't notice a soul around her. Then she heard the floor screech and she looked up, onto the second floor, through the wooden holes.

And there he stood.

***

Pansy had followed Draco's observation, as she headed towards the Great Hall to spy on Elara. She looked around everywhere for her, even dropped down on her knees to check underneath the tables, as other students laughed at her. Getting furious, she began to tap everyone who remotely reminded her of Elara.

"Pansy, what are you looking for?" Tracey walked over to her, as Pansy growled at a girl from Hufflepuff, whom she thought to be her sworn enemy.

"What does it look like?! God Tracey, can you use your brain for once!" Pansy shouted back, causing a few heads to turn.

"I was just trying to help you," Tracey lowered her voice, trying to calm her friend.

"Were you? By sitting next to the mudblood in class and mocking me?" Pansy sneered at her, angrily stomping out of the Great Hall.

Draco's advice seemed to have been faulty, and she couldn't fathom how Draco missed where Elara had gone. Returning to the library, she couldn't find Draco anywhere either, but that didn't stop her from writing yet another report to her journal.

As ordered by Professor Snape, Pansy believed they were on an important mission, to get to the bottom of Elara's presence. She made sure to write about every occasion where someone either remembered her or failed to, including certain moments from her past. She also made sure to note about any 'incidents' that happened when Elara was around. What angered her most was that Elara went basically unpunished after she'd set her on fire in class. Even though she complained and demanded her to be expelled, Professor McGonagall told her not to worry about it and that she was dealing with it personally.

Pansy also noticed how Tracey began to slowly drift away from their clique, and she would prefer to sit alone or with complete strangers, or even worse - next to Elara. Whereas their bedroom chambers usually echoed with laughter and late-night talking, the silence began to consume it lately. She'd rarely seen Elara in their shared bedroom, usually at nights, but she would be gone before the sunrise. And now Tracey had been doing the same, although Pansy doubted the girls hanged out together, as she usually found Tracey reading in the Slytherin common room. Her other two roommates, Millicent and Daphne, were not as pleasant to be around with - mainly because they would get back at Pansy if she was nasty to them.