EPHEMERAL [2]

14; SHE'S BACK

Everything was going well this winter holiday. Well, as well as it can be after Mr. Weasley being attacked by a massive snake and Harry seeing every bit of it in a dream. But, things went smoothly after, until one night at dinner, when Sirius silently handed his daughter a copy of the Daily Prophet.

She looked at the front page which had multiple pictures of known Death Eater, and the title 'AZKABAN ESCAPEES' at the top. But the one escapee that caught her eye was none other than Bellatrix fucking Lestrange, her aunt and her father's cousin.

"She's out?" Came the younger girl's weak question.

Her father smiled sadly. "I'm afraid so, love. But, you're safe, and you're strong. You'll be alright."

That wasn't what she was worried about though. Elara knew she was going to be fine, but she didn't know if her family and friends would be that fortunate. Bellatrix's daughter went to school with them, and she could be reporting Elara's every move to her mother. Everyone she loved could be targeted. The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, The Greengrass siblings, Blaise, Bianca, Draco, her father, and Theodore.

Theodore. Theodore bloody Nott. The absolute love and light of her life. He could be targeted just because she was related to that damned woman. He could die or be brutally tortured because of her. And those were the lovely thoughts that consumed her mind when she laid in her bed later that night, wanting to drift into a black abyss and forget everything.

But, awake thoughts become asleep thoughts, and fortunate as she may have been to be able to fall asleep that night, her sleep was plagued by nightmares. As they usually were if she managed to sleep. But this one was particularly horrific.

//NIGHTMARE//

Elara opened her eyes to see nothing but black. She was in a room that seemed to never end. As she began walking, her foot made a little plop when she set it down, and she looked down, seeing a dark liquid on the ground.

Not wanting to dismiss it or assume things, she knelt down and stuck the tip of her index finger in it. When she lifted it, it was red, and upon smelling it and inhaling the faint scent of iron, she confirmed it was indeed blood.

She eyes widened and her brow furrowed in worry, and she followed the faint trail of blood, further and further into the darkness. Elara stopped when the blood stopped and suddenly all around her was a cackling laugh. A woman came out of the darkness. A familiar woman.

A woman with crazy, curly black hair, mad dark eyes, sunken skin and rotten teeth. A crooked wand gripped in her hand, and a ripped black dress adorning her body. "Hello wittle Black. Wook at you, so gwown up and stwong."

Bellatrix.

"Bellatrix." Elara snarled, reaching for her wand, only to find it wasn't there. Her next instinct was to thrust her hands out and hope her telekinesis would knock the bitch over. But nothing happened, and Bellatrix cackled once more.

"Oh, darling, that won't work. You're helpless. How will you ever save your lover?" She pointed up, and Elara looked up, and the sight she saw was the most horrific one she had ever seen.

It was Theodore, hanging upside down from the ceiling, a wooden pole thrust into his stomach, and his arms and face all cut up and bruised. Blood dripped from his lips, which lead her to believe that his lung was punctured by stray wood.

"This isn't painful, enough, is it?" Bellatrix frowned at the immobile Elara. She was stood there, eyes heartbroken and mouth slightly open. No reaction, for she could not believe that this was real. "How about his memories?"