Say It Again

Ellie was left feeling severely rattled after her match up with Draco. He had very decidedly won that round. The pressure of his lips on hers was simply too much to fight against. It had been stupid of her to go chasing after him, but she couldn’t deny herself the need to see him, to find out how badly he was injured.

Seamus hadn’t been exaggerating, Draco looked like hell. Ellie thought it was for the best; she was alarmingly attracted to him even with the black eye. Not that the git didn’t deserve it, but still. She ran a flustered hand through her hair.

Ginny looked up at her friend with a raised brow. “Enjoying Bins homework? I mean, I can tell by the unopen history book that this is a topic which severely interests you, but still try to hold back your enthusiasm.”

Ellie couldn’t help the smile that lifted the corner of her mouth. “You caught me. Thrilled to death. I love learning about Goblin Rebellions.”

“Oh my gosh!” Lavender squealed, sliding onto the bench beside Ellie so fast that she tumbled into Ellie. “Are you doing the essay? Two and a half scrolls, is he mad? Bin’s subject couldn’t be more –“

“Zzzz,” Parvati snore added flair to the story. She slid in on the other side of Ellie. “But if you are writing it, I think we should all work together, make the time go by faster, you know.” She cast a nervous look around her at the library.

Ellie understood that look. It was the look all of the Hogwarts students wore when they were anywhere other than their own Common Rooms. No place was safe from the Carrows. No place was safe from the Slytherins. No place but the Common Rooms. Being out in the open like this, in the library, was simply asking for harassment, but Ginny and Ellie had both felt the need to escape the crowded Gryffindor Common Room. And of course there was that side to both of them that recoiled at bowing to fear.

“Ehm, d’accord. I was just looking over my notes, but avec les trois, we could probably do it in an hour.” Ellie smiled at her new friends and they smiled back. It was strange really, Lavender and Pravati wanting to do homework with her. Then again, maybe it wasn’t, they only really had each other now and if they didn’t look out for each other, no one else would. But that wasn’t exactly true either.

As if reading her mind, Lavender leaned in close and whispered, “I know this is totally old news, but Pravati and I were sort of –“

“Meaning majorly,” Pravati corrected, “wondering if you knew who cursed Pansy?”

Ellie blushed, Ginny looked at her with curiosity, and all four girls peered over their shoulders. “Because,” Lavender continued in an even quieter voice, “I kind of thought it might be Draco. I mean, the way he is always staring at you, it’s super creepy.”

Pravati nodded in vigorous agreement. “I mean, seriously, I’m not sure about his helping you because Draco is an absolute ass, but he does stare at you an awful lot.”

Ellie was suddenly feeling rather undone. All this talk about staring. She was going to have to check how much she stared at people. She didn’t want rampant rumors to start circulating about her the way they were currently circulating about Draco. “I can assure you,” she said but didn’t get to finish.

“Girls!” Madame Pince swooped down upon them. “There is no talking in the library! That is what your Common Room is for. So shoo! Back to the Common Room with you.”

Quickly, the girls gathered up their books and headed up to the Common Room. Of course, the Common Room was filled with students avoiding leaving the safety of the other Gryffindors. Not the place to hold a private conversation.

“Come to our dorm,” Pravati said. “It’s only the two of us now, plenty of room for two more.”

The four slipped up the stairs and into the quiet of the dorm. Lavender and Pravati sat down on one bed and motioned for Ginny and Ellie to take the other. “You were saying,” Lavender encouraged.

“Right,” Ellie fidgeted. “You see, Draco and I –“

“I think it was Zabini,” Ginny interrupted suddenly.

All eyes turned to her. “Uhm, Why?” Lavender asked with a slight undertone of annoyance.

“Because everyone knows that Ellie and Draco can’t stand each other. If he’s staring at her, he’s probably staring daggers,” Ginny snapped. “I can’t believe you would think he wanted to save Ellie, he’s never anything but rude to her.” She jumped off the bed and headed for the door. “I have my own homework I need to do, see you later, Ellie.”

“She wasn’t even there,” Pravati groused. “How would she know anything about it?”

“Ginny just thinks that because she’s dated half of the –“

Not wanting to listen to Lavender and Pravati berate her friend, Ellie cut them off. “Ginny’s right. Draco hates me.” Picking up her bag, she said, “We should get started on Bin’s essay.”

Two hours later the essay was finished and Ellie was finally retiring to her own dorm room. Lavender and Pravati were very nice in their own way, but they were also exceedingly tiring. Walking to her bed, Ellie collapsed on it face first.

“Ow!” She reeled back, one hand diving beneath her pillow to retrieve the object which had stabbed her even through the cushion. Her fingers brushed the sharp edges of paper. Riddled with confusion, Ellie pulled out the letter.

It was a folded square of parchment with silver ink staining it. Ellie sat up, crossing her legs and peering down at the letter. Her name was scrawled across the parchment. Unfolding the letter, there was very little text inside. As she read, Ellie traced her finger over the silver scrawled words. A smile curled her lips.

“El!” Ginny’s voice floated through the door startling her. Hurriedly, Ellie shoved the letter back beneath her pillow.