Shadows ✯ Sirius Black

Chapter 3: Outstanding

In the summer between their first and second year, the two girls had started looking less and less like twins. Elara nearly disappeared in her oversized everything, whereas Annelise took more and more interest in fashion, often criticizing her sister for wearing the same outfit for a week straight. 

At school, they hardly acted like they were family anymore. Annelise stayed close to her friends, while Elara stayed close to her books. Her mother had often asked her if she was being bullied or if there was something wrong, but the truth was that Hogwarts never felt like a home to Elara. It was a place one should keep their head down and live through, not live for.

Elara did know what was going on around her, perhaps better so than the headmaster. She blended in so much that people would often talk about their deep secrets just a few seats away from her. Through this, she had found out that her sister and one of her best friends had a crush on the same boy: Sirius Black. While he seemed to have eyes only for mischief and his friends.

One of his friends was odd though. Remus Lupin had done nothing wrong to her, so she had no interest in trying to pry into his life and find out what his secret was. But he surely kept one. One he held so close to his chest that he even seemed to notice Elara, and shush his friends. 

No, Elara really did not see the point in making friends. She was the top of her year, closely followed by Daniel Danning, a Ravenclaw boy who had made it his personal goal to be better than her. In fact, most Ravenclaws seemed to dislike the young Gryffindor. It had been two decades since the top of the year had been anyone but a Ravenclaw. Elara gladly accepted Daniel's jealousy, it only made studying easier. 

Elara was nose deep into her Defense Against the Dark Arts book when Remus Lupin sat down, only two chairs away from her. The Great hall was still quiet, only a few other students were up this early. One of which was Daniel, who had just joined the Ravenclaw table. 

Elara's eyes flickered over to Remus, trying to see who caused the disturbance in her concentration. The boy rubbed his temples as though he had a nasty headache, before looking straight back at her. 

She immediately turned back to her book. The memory of what had happened last year between her and his friends was still fresh in her mind. She would do anything to avoid another run in like that, her sister still made fun of her for it back home. Any time her parents tried to praise her she'd cut in and retell the story. 

For a brief moment, she thought she could see him leaning over, attempting to strike up a conversation with her. But he leaned back, and the moment thankfully passed. 

About an hour later, he was joined by his friends. This time Elara did hear them approach, so she did not make the mistake of looking up again. She could see them sitting down from the corner of her eye, but kept looking straight at the text in front of her. 

'The single correct way to handle an attack from a Hintelluft is to tickle its stomach, his claws might scratch you but as long as the venom-filled teeth don't come near it is completely safe. There are those who argue one should light them on fire. However, this technique is widely regarded as insufficient and only seems to anger them. It also prevents the use of tickles due to the flames.' 

She had to read every sentence twice to really let it register in her brain. She kept getting distracted by the four loud boys next to her, as well as the rest of the Hogwarts castle finally waking up. Eventually, she decided that it would be time to fill her schoolbag with the correct books for the day, and perhaps study in the dormitory for a little bit longer. 

She shut the book and got up. She was fully aware that the conversation next to her halted for a bit, but she made sure to never make eye contact. She could however not have take more than two steps away from the table before she was stopped.

"Starling." Daniel greeted her, having just walked over from the Ravenclaw table. "Still struggling with Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Still struggling with the rest?" she answered back. Daniel was, much like herself, not the greatest when it came to social interactions. He had been brewing on that one insult ever since he had sat down, and had not been expecting a response.

"Professor Binns says that you got an Exceeds Expectations on your last essay." he gloated. "I myself managed to get an Outstanding." 

"Which makes your overall grade still an Exceeds Expectations." she answered. She knew his grades as well as her own. "And mine an Outstanding." Daniel went red in the face and wanted to retaliate, but was stopped by the presence of Professor McGonagall. 

"Mr. Black, Mr. Potter," she said. "Do you happen to know anything about the trail of slugs going through the dormitory to your room?"

Daniel sulked off immediately, throwing Elara a final venomous look. Elara couldn't help but glance back at the table, to see both Remus and Sirius staring right back at her.