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𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐘

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𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 a deathly fear of heights, she was taking Astronomy and couldn't be happier about it. It was all she talked about the entire summer; other than her newfound abilities as a Metamorphagus. It had gotten to a point where Aunt Meda had prematurely bought Elara some star charts to keep her satisfied. As Aunt Meda and Uncle Ted stopped by Gringotts to withdraw money for the shopping trip, Elara wandered around.

When Elara discovered she could alter her appearance at will, she decided that when out in public, she would change her appearance to protect herself from the usual crazy stares and whispers.

After wrestling with herself, Elara decided to succumb to her raging sweet tooth and head over to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor for a cone of chocolate chip cookie dough. As she neared the storefront, Elara lowered her head to count the spare change in her pocket to see how big of a cone she would be able to purchase.

It was an unfortunate decision, as she rammed into a figure that had a back like a brick wall. She stumbled back, rubbing the top of her head and muttering curses under her breath. 

The already unfortunate and awkward situation turned more unfortunate when Elara looked up to see Harry Potter half glaring-half staring at her. Elara scrunched up her nose because he shouldn't be able to recognize her. She pulled strands of hair towards her face and muttered 'dammit' when she saw her hair had turned back to its wild state.

Elara surveyed Harry and his two friends, who were also staring at her. Then, she remembered she forgot to apologize. 

"Oh, right — I'm sorry."

The three looked shocked. They were surprised Elara Lestrange, the daughter of the two most feared Death Eaters, was apologizing to them. Hermione Granger suddenly kicked Ron Weasley's leg swiftly as if to remind him of something. Ron started and glared at Hermione before a look of realization slowly set on his features.

"Uh... Ginny told me you wrote to her... and um... that was really nice, considering we thought you were the one who — "

Hermione cleared her throat aggressively to catch Ron's attention. He didn't notice. 

" — was going after all the Muggle-Borns."

"Right," said Elara, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"I'm really sorry, too," blurted Harry, "I shouldn't — I shouldn't have assumed."

"Thanks. Well, I uh — I should get going." 

Elara had lost her appetite and instead spun on her heel and began to head towards Flourish and Blotts. Not caring if anyone was watching her Metamorphosize, Elara scrunched up her nose and concentrated on turning her hair brown and her eyes blue.

Behind her, Ron made a funny noise. The Golden Trio watched as her hair tamed and grew brown from the roots down. Harry watched with wide eyes and wondered why she was allowed to use magic outside of school.

"Bloody hell, she's a Metamorphagus?!" came Ron's loud voice.

"What's — "

"They're really rare. . . ." Hermione interrupted, oblivious to the fact she cut off Harry's question due to astonishment.

"How come we've never known?" asked Ron.

"Maybe it's because you act like she's murdered your entire family, Ronald," Hermione bit back, still staring at Elara's retreating figure.

"She's a Lestrange, Hermione. Evil's in her blood."

"What has she ever done to you?"

"Well nothing, but — "

"Then there's no reason not to trust her. You can't blame her for what her parents have done. It's illogical — "

" — Will someone tell me what just happened?" Harry's annoyed voice cut through their conversation.

Hermione looked embarrassed as she hurriedly explained, "Metamorphagi have the ability to change their appearance at will without the use of a wand or potion."

"We could've used that last year," pouted Ron, shuddering as he remembered the nasty flavor of Crabbe.

"I wonder why she's changed her appearance," mused Harry aloud, eyes scanning for Elara, who had disappeared in the crowd.

"Probably because she doesn't want people staring at her. You of all people should understand, Harry."

Harry turned a slight shade of red. 

"That's different! Her parents were in Voldemort's inner circle!"

"Honestly, you two. I'm surprised either of you passed exams at all."

"Come off it, Hermione," groaned Ron, "Her parents hated Muggles and went to Azkaban on over twenty counts of torture and murder of them. Why're you defending her, anyway?"

"I have ten Galleons, and I think I'm going to buy an owl," Hermione stated loudly, clearly exasperated at her two best friends' stubbornness.

The trio headed across the street to Magical Menagerie whilst Elara Lestrange crossed the threshold into Flourish and Blotts. She was left quite flustered from the exchange and had trouble keeping her false appearance up.

All summer Elara hoped for a competent Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The past two to have claimed the position were both dreadful and extrememly annoying. Elara picked up The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 from a shelf and gathered a pile of Astronomy books she planned to ask Aunt Meda for.

The books piled high. Elara had to arch her back slightly to prevent them from falling onto the floor, surely taking her with them. She head in the direction she assumed was towards the register. Unfortunately for the second time that day, she rammed into someone. Several books slammed into the wooden floors of Flourish and Blotts. Her appearance faltered before turning back to its original state. She began apologizing profusely whilst gathering her books into her arms haphazardly.

A book was held out to her, and Elara took it slowly. She raised her eyes to see the face of Corrine Sharpe, the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain.

Elara fell back. Corrine had a reputation of berating those who crossed her, and it didn't matter if they were significantly younger. Just this past year, Corrine scared Draco Malfoy into almost shitting himself after he started spouting about 'Mudbloods'.

Much to Elara's surprise, Corrine's facial expression morphed into a genuine smile. 

"You know Cori, maybe if you weren't so aggressive all the time, kids wouldn't be afraid of you," came a deep scottish voice.

Elara doesn't scare easily, but two seventh year Quidditch captains who both have reputations as being slightly or very terrifying overwhelmed her into silence.

"Shut up, Ollie," Corrine rolled her eyes playfully and shot Elara a playful look.

Corrine helped Elara up, who was still scared into silence.

"Do you not see her? She's terrified," argued Oliver Wood.

"Probably because of your horrifying face," bit back Corrine, a smile dancing on her lips.

"Mhm, well, last time I checked, you were snogging this 'horrifying' face."

As if Elara wasn't surprised enough, Corrine turned a violent shade of red. Her voice had risen to a high, rushed whisper while Oliver looked triumphant.

"Wood!" hissed Corrine, "There are children present!" 

She made a slight gesture to Elara, who was fighting back a smile. Oliver was still looking quite smug when Corrine turned to Elara again. 

"If anyone gives you trouble, like this great prat here — " She made a rude gesture to Oliver, who only chuckled in return " — just let me know, I'll be happy to help."

Corrine and Oliver headed out of the shop, already divulging in a probably ridiculous argument. Elara stood watching them, embarrassed and elated at the same time. Corrine Sharpe had just offered a form of friendship to her without even having to think about it.

Maybe this year wasn't going to be so terrible after all.

·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ 　　.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

edited: December 26, 2020