Weakness

Ellietta had seen Draco almost immediately upon arriving at Platform 9 3/4. His almost luminescent blonde hair was easy to pick out in a crowd. She did not let her eyes linger long and did not smile or wave, despite the urge to do so. Instead she rested her eyes on the freckle on her mother's right cheek and pretended to listen as she droned on about paying attention to lessons, responding to her letters and, of course, staying away from "That Malfoy Boy". Ellietta merely nodded before scurrying onto the awaiting train. As soon as she walked through the door she was greeted by Draco's smiling face.

"I told you, you're sitting with me," he tugged her by the hand down the corridor until they reached the compartment he had designated as his own.

Pansy was chatting animatedly with Theodore Nott, who looked rather unamused. She stood up and threw her arms around Draco as soon as he entered the compartment. He shrugged her off and sat down next to Nott. Ellietta sat as far away from Pansy as she possibly could while still occupying the same bench.

"Sit over here, Ellie," Draco scooted closer to Nott, "There's plenty of room. I've haven't seen you in weeks, we need to catch up."

Pansy scowled as Ellietta swapped sides and planted herself next to Draco.

"Guess you lost that bet then?" Ellietta grinned at her from across the way.

"W-What?" Pansy's cheeks flushed, "No. I don't know what you're talking about."

"A bet?" Nott leaned in, finding the conversation interesting.

"What bet?" Draco asked.

"She bet Millicent and Daphne a Galleon that she'd be your girlfriend before the end of break. I was just saying that it seems as though she's lost," Ellietta shrugged.

Pansy's cheeks grew even redder and her pudgy hands were balled up in tight fists at her sides. Draco and Theodore broke out in a chorus of loud laughter while Ellietta folded her hands in her lap, a content look on her face. Then, just as suddenly as it had began, the laughter stopped. Pansy had leapt to her feet, the tip of her wand just centimeters from Ellietta's face. Draco drew his wand too, and aimed at Pansy.

"Put it away Pans," he growled, "Don't be stupid."

"I'm not the stupid one," she began, but was quickly cut off.

"Petrificus Totalis!" Draco shouted, and Pansy fell back to the bench at an awkward angle, "That's better."

"Don't you think that was a bit excessive?" Ellietta questioned, though secretly she was glad for it.

"A bit?" Nott laughed.

"She flicked her wrist, I was making sure you didn't get hit by something nonverbal," Draco explained, "Besides now we don't have to listen to her all the way to Hogwarts."

"I don't think she could do anything nonverbal," Ellietta commented, "She can barely handle verbal spells."

"Whatever," Draco's shoulders rose and fell," Like I said, at least now she's quiet."

Draco lifted the curse when the train stopped and rushed out of the compartment before Pansy could say anything. Crabbe and Goyle were sitting around in the common room and he wasted no time in telling them of how he'd rendered Pansy speechless. Blaise Zabini joined in their laughter. Even Ellietta chuckled just a bit at the triumphant look on Draco's face as he retold his glory. Pansy entered the common room with her head held high, but it drooped when saw all the students clustered around Draco and laughing hysterically. She scampered quickly to the dormitories and was not seen the rest of the night.

When she resurfaced, Pansy made certain to bump into Ellietta every time they passed in the hallways. She snickered under her breath to Daphne or Tracey or whoever happened to be close enough about how horrid Ellietta's hair looked, how unflattering her robes were, and how Draco only kept her around out of pity. She'd even set fire to Ellietta's transfiguration homework. The pièce de résistance was supposed to be the Bat Bogey Hex but things went horribly, horribly wrong. In retrospect Pansy realized that the girls' bathrooms were probably not the best place to attempt the hex. Ellietta had sidestepped the hex and it proceeded to bounce off one of the many mirrors and hit Pansy square between the eyes. Madame Pomfrey had reversed it, but the damage to Pansy's ego would not be so easily undone.

"She's plotting your demise, you know," Zabini grinned at Ellietta over lunch one afternoon.

"Pansy? I know," she nodded, "I'm not worried."

"Because Malfoy will come to your rescue," Goyle butt in.

"Shut up," Draco hissed and elbowed Goyle hard in the ribs.

"Because her skills are sub-par," Ellietta clarified, and turned her attention to her sandwich.

The subject of conversation turned to Quidditch and the upcoming match of Hufflepuff against Gryffindor. As usual, Draco griped about the injustice of Harry Potter being on the team. Zabini mentioned that Professor Snape would be refereeing, and all the boys seemed to brighten at this fact. They seemed to think Snape would give Hufflepuff some sort of advantage since he was the head of Slytherin house and wouldn't want Gryffindor to win the House Cup but Ellietta wasn't so sure about that. The discussion continued all the way to the Quidditch pitch where Draco, Ellietta, Crabbe, and Goyle ended up directly behind Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley in the stands. Ellietta knew this was not going to be good and was quickly proven right by Draco, who poked Ron in the head with his wand.

"Sorry Weasley, didn't see you there," he said casually, "Wonder how long Potter will stay on his broom this time? Anyone want to bet? What about you, Weasley?"

"Draco," Ellietta interjected, but was quickly cut off.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" he kept on going, "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, whose got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money - you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

"Draco," Ellietta scolded again.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," this time it was Neville who cut her short.

"You tell him, Neville," Ron muttered without looking away from the game.

Crabbe, Goyle, and Draco erupted into laughter as Neville's face turned pink. Ellietta shook her head.

"If brains were gold, Longbottom, you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something," Draco chuckled.

"I'm warning you, Malfoy - one more word," Ron snarled, finally turning to face him.

"Ron!" Hermione cried suddenly, "Harry!"

Everyone's attention turned to the match, where Harry had just taken a tremendous dive. He'd seen the snitch. Draco's eyes narrowed for a moment but then he remembered he was busy making Weasley miserable.

"You're in luck, Weasley," he called out, "Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground."

"Draco, really," Ellietta admonished under her breath.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Ron jumped over the back of seat and threw himself on Draco, knocking the both of them to the ground. Neville followed suit and began throwing punches at both Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione was too wrapped up in the match to even realize what was happening.

"Stop!" Ellietta screamed, tugging at the back of Ron's robes to no avail, "Get off! Get off!"

Suddenly everyone in the arena was screaming and Ellietta realized that Harry had caught the snitch. The game was over.

"Stop it now! The both of you!" she hollered over the noise.

"You'll get detention!" Hermione chimed in, finally noticing Ron and Draco rolling around on the ground and poor Neville having his face rearranged by Crabbe and Goyle, "Ronald, enough!"

Begrudgingly, Ron got up and Draco stood slowly, dusting the dirt off his robes. He turned to Crabbe and Goyle and shook his head, and they immediately dropped Neville.

"My father will be hearing about this!" Draco snapped, and grabbed Ellietta by the hand.

He dragged her roughly through the throngs of students back into the castle and down an empty corridor. Draco pulled her into an empty classroom and muttered a locking spell as he closed the door, followed by a muffliato. He slumped down into one of the chairs and sighed despondently.

"Does it hurt?" Ellietta asked softly, pulling a chair up next to his.

"Does what hurt?" Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Your eye," she ran her finger lightly over the very edge of the angry purple mark.

He continued to give her the same puzzled look so Ellietta conjured a mirror and handed it to him.

"He bruised me!" Draco shouted indignantly, tossing the mirror aside. In a softer tone he added, "Can you fix it?"

Ellietta ran her finger over the tender skin once more before pointing her wand and whispering, "Contusum Percuro."

"Thanks," Draco said sincerely.

"You're an idiot, you know?" she asked rhetorically, swinging her legs back and forth.

"Weasley started it!" he whined, "It wasn't my fault."

"You started it. You poked him with your wand and then you wouldn't shut up," Ellietta reminded him, "You deserved the black eye. Perhaps I should have left it. Maybe I can undo the spell."

"No!" he shrieked, "I can't walk around like that. Can you imagine what people would say? Thank you for healing it, really, please don't undo it."

Ellietta smiled, "Alright, I'll leave your pretty little face alone. Will you promise me you'll leave the Gryffindors alone?"

"You think my face is pretty? Not chiseled or handsome or something a bit more manly?" Draco's blue-grey eyes twinkled.

"No, nothing more manly," Ellietta replied, "You've got a pretty face for a silly little boy."

"Silly little boy?" he pretended to be hurt.

Ellietta ruffled his pale blonde hair, "If you don't like it, prove me wrong."

Draco opened his mouth, presumably to respond, but the doorknob began to jiggle. He and Ellietta watched as the door swung open and Professor Snape walked in, his robes trailing behind him. He shot Draco an annoyed look first and then his gaze settled on Ellietta. Draco put his hand on her thigh, he wasn't sure if it was protective or possessive or both, he just knew he didn't like the way Snape was looking at her. His dark eyes roamed every inch of her body, drinking her in like a cool glass of pumpkin juice.

"Get out," Snape requested in monotone, "If you'd like to snog without being interrupted I'd suggest you learn some stronger locking spells."

"But Professor," Ellietta's cheeks turned scarlet, "We weren't -"

"GET OUT!"