Eleanor & Fred

Each day passed by slowly after Umbridge’s threat. I racked my brains trying to come up with some solution but found none. I would either have to give up those I cared about or face whatever punishment Umbridge was going to dish out to me. By day three I had developed a pattern of spending my free time alone in the library, hoping the quiet solitude would help me think straight.

Dumbledore’s Army met once that week giving me the perfect opportunity to make my list of names. However, I didn’t even bother making mental notes of the names I had trouble remembering. Could I stand to be a traitor? Could I live with that choice?

Alice and Fred noticed my frequent disappearances and questioned me about it, but I simply told them I was studying extra hard for potions class.

I wanted more than anything to put up a fight against Umbridge, but I didn’t see any way to do so.

On Saturday, day five since Umbridge’s threat, I was seated in the library when Fred came to find me. “Hey…that doesn’t look like potions.”

I slid the parchment that I had been doodling on into my bag and shrugged. “I got distracted.”

Fred reached across the table and grabbed my hands in his. “What’s wrong? Your friends and I are worried about you…”

“Nothing,” I responded a little too loudly, earning a “shh” from the librarian. I lowered my voice to a whisper before continuing, suddenly coming up with an idea. “I’m just a little upset about Jay, that’s all. I just wish that he would get over it, like you said before.”

A look of understanding crossed Fred’s features. “I know and I wish I could make him. He’s pissing me the bloody hell off, that’s for sure. He hasn’t even asked anyone where you’ve been.” I allowed Fred to comfort me, believing my excuse for behaving so oddly. “With your permission, maybe I could talk to him.”

“No, you don’t have to,” I stated, a little too quickly. “I mean…I’m not sure it will help.”

“Well, we can find out, right?” He stood and began walking out of the library, causing me to follow, slightly panicked. I had planned on letting Jay deal with things own and now I was afraid that Fred would make things worse.

“Fred,” I stated, once we were walking in the hall, “What are you even going to say to him?”

“Well, I just want to know if he plans on being a blockhead for much longer. If he’s truly your friend and if he truly cares about you the way he says he does, he needs to know how he’s making you feel.”

I followed nervously until we reached the great hall where many students were studying, the weather too rainy and chilly for a visit to Hogsmeade. George waved at us from the Gryffindor table and frowned slightly when we didn’t walk toward him.

Jay was sitting at the Ravenclaw table a few feet away from Alice and Wes reading and only looked up when Fred stopped directly in front of him. I felt the eyes of Alice and Wes, maybe George, and possibly even a few others on me as Fred took a seat, leaving me standing nervously beside him.

“Hi, Julian,” Fred stated, not friendly but not unfriendly either. “I was hoping to talk with you for a minute.” Jay shot a quick glance at me before turning his gaze to Fred. He shut his book and nodded, obviously having nothing to say. “Well, Ellie told me about your feelings for her and-“

“You told him?” Jay glared at me and I had to look away, guilt kicking in.

“Don’t get mad at her,” Fred stated, regaining Jay’s attention. “If you weren’t acting like such a prick I wouldn’t have asked what was going on.” I cringed at Fred’s name-calling but didn’t comment. “Anyway, listen, here’s the thing…I’m a nice guy. Ask anyone. However, you make someone I care about unhappy, well…I can be a prick as well. You seem like an awesome guy, and you must be for Ellie to care so much about you. The thing is…it’s not her fault that her feelings are purely friendly, alright? Maybe you haven’t noticed, but you’re making her feel bloody awful. Personally, I think you need to accept some stuff and then apologize to Ellie for letting this get in the way of your friendship. How does that sound to you?”

Jay didn’t respond right away, giving Fred time to stand. I finally took notice of quite how many people had started paying attention to Fred and Jay. Conflict always drew people’s gazes.

“I don’t like you,” Jay stated, “And I don’t think you’re good enough for Ell.” I held my breath, wondering what would come next. “However…if you really do care about him,” his gaze turned to me, “And you really believe that he’s right for you…I won’t cause any more problems. I just want you to be happy, Ell. I can’t say that I will stop caring about you, but I can say that I’ll try to keep it to myself. I miss you.”

Fred appeared to have stopped paying attention once Jay began talking of his feelings for me. While they still had some issues, I didn’t care. I leaned over the table and, nearly falling onto it, gave Jay a hug.

“I missed you too,” I told him.

Alice beamed at us, and even Wes looked happy. “Conflict resolved,” Alice grinned.

Unfortunately, the problem that was solved was the least of my worries at the time.