Restoration

Chapter Twenty-One

***

Sat underneath the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall, Luna theorised that it was impacted by the students' mood, meaning it could change into a terrible storm the night before their final exams. Her opposition, another Ravenclaw girl, claimed that the enchanted ceiling was controlled by the headmaster, therefore whatever creation danced above their heads, was because of his current inspiration.

Bickering back and forth, Anthony concluded that while both theories seemed valid, they missed out on a big and crucial part - the fact that it would take the Weasley twins mere seconds to rearrange it their way.

Elara had been playing with an apple in her hands, lost in her daydreams. She dissected her encounters with Draco inside her different reality, and how she was able to not only trust him but to confide in him and share her experiences with him.

She knew he had been trained by his aunt, but she had no idea how cruel she had been to him in his childhood as well. Her twisted ways didn't have tolerance even with her family members, as Draco told her about the many times she tortured or belittled her husband, who was a Death Eater liker herself, supporting the same cause.

"What's your bet, Dotson?" Anthony called for her, noticing she had not been paying attention to their conversation. Elara would sit at the Ravenclaw table every time they were on their break or doing their homework, and the majority of Ravenclaws didn't mind - or perhaps they just feared her too much to object.

"The Weasley twins, yeah...they'd be good," she stuttered, having only caught the last few words of the chat.
"A penny for your thoughts," He quietly whispered in her ear.

She tried to dismiss his concern as the corner of her lips spread into a wide smile, talking about their homework with the others. But he saw right through her, as he knew when she smiled out of politeness and when she truly smiled at something that made her catch her breath.

After they were free to go and spend their time as they wished before the dinner, Elara agreed on practicing with Harry and Anthony, even though that was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to meet up with Draco in the different reality and tell him more things and learn more about him - even if they weren't true in this reality.

But she wasn't the only one desperate to fall asleep. Draco had been observing the Ravenclaw table ever since she sat next to them like she always did. He could tell she wasn't there with her thoughts and he wondered what she had been thinking about.
Even though he felt wrong for lying to her, making her believe she had shifted realities, he knew that was the only way to get more information out of her. And to figure out Elara Dotson was his main goal - as he had an inkling he could use the knowledge to get more powerful and to be able to finish his given task.

He jumped on his feet as soon as the trio did - knowing they were going to practice Elara's reality shifting. And he couldn't let that happen, as he wasn't asleep, so Elara couldn't accidentally find her way into his dreams. And if she wasn't able to do that, she might question the validity of everything she'd known so far - eventually realizing she was visiting him in his dreams.

Walking a few feet behind Anthony and Elara, he could sense some tension. It was odd for her to be quiet and gritty, only mumbling bleak responses as she stared at the ground beneath her. And once he heard her shout "Drop it, Goldstein," he had the sudden urge to get near them, shoving past students in front of him, until he was within an arm's reach to them.

"You need to talk to me about it, what happened after? I saw her torture you, and that surely wasn't the only time she'd done it," Anthony complained.

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it," Elara picked up the pace, trying to avoid speaking to him.

"That's not good for you," Anthony wagged his finger at her, as Luna walked in the middle of them, having sensed the tension, too.