Ella knew she needed to take Ramona's advice as the Yule Ball drew ever closer and her three year-mates, the ever-sensible Ramona included, became obsessive over what they were going to wear and who they were going to take. They (of course) already had their dresses picked out, but what were they to do with their hair? Their shoes? Their make-up? Ella tried to sympathize, but she was too concerned with her schoolwork, her prefect duties, and trying to ignore George Weasley.
He never failed to bother her at least once a day, but usually more. He sat as close to her as he possibly could during classes, and was even frequenting the library more often, much to her chagrin. But he had yet to ask her to the Yule Ball, something she was more than thankful for.
That was, until he asked her three weeks before the ball.
Ramona had been asked by Steve, a 7th-year Ravenclaw who had been 'chatting her up' as Suze, one of their year-mates, put it since the beginning of term. Suze had been asked by two guys, and she was still weighing the pros and cons of each date. Clara hadn't been asked yet, but she was 'nearly positive' she'd go with Grant, one of her good friends from Hufflepuff whom she'd been harboring a secret crush for since first year. Ella sighed, not particularly caring if she even went to the ball at all, but she had a feeling that George would be asking her, sooner or later.
Thankfully, he asked her very discreetly, not in front of a lot of people, something almost uncharacteristic of the infamous Weasley twins. But this made her refusal all the more easier. George, however, was undeterred, and asked her again the very next day as they walked into Dark Arts together. She rolled her eyes and refused again. When she sat down next to Ramona, she groaned. Ramona was right, even when she wasn't even speaking.
She needed to find a date. And quickly.
She was friendly with most of the Ravenclaws in her year and some of the 7th years. And she was friendly with some of the Hufflepuffs too, but she knew that there were only a few guys left who didn't have dates. She ran through a mental list, and asked Ramona what she thought of Javier, the quiet, ('yet smoldering' and 'brooding' as Suze and Clara had so helpfully interjected), 7th year Ravenclaw. She found him reading in the common room the same night she had turned down George for the second time, and approached him with a slight air of confidence. Javier was notorious in Ravenclaw for never actually striking up conversation.
"Hullo, Javier, what are you studying?"
He glanced up briefly from his heavy tome and Ella was surprised to see how the fire made the different browns and greens in his eyes dance. "Oh, hullo, Ella," he said quietly, "just brushing up on some Runes for the parchment I'll begin tomorrow."
Ella nodded and sat in the plush chair opposite him, taking out her own Runes book, "Is Runes your favorite?"
He shook his head, "I prefer Transfiguration, but Runes might be a close second," he hesitated and looked up at her again, his pink lips forming into a slight smile, "you like Runes?"
Ella grinned, feeling oddly comfortable around Javier, "Only after Magical Creatures, yea." Javier nodded and they both turned back to their books for a few minutes before Ella spoke up again with a burst of confidence. Javier would never laugh at her, even if he did reject her, so what was the harm in trying? "Javier, I was wondering if you had a date for the Yule Ball? I wasn't really planning on going, but you know how friends are," she trailed off slightly before continuing, "and only as friends, I mean. But it would be a way to get my friends off my back, and all that."
Javier looked up, a quizzical expression on his face: Ella swore she could see the gears turning in his head as he pondered her question. She knew he'd think it over for a few minutes: it seemed no Ravenclaw could ever make a rash decision, they always took a few minutes to think everything over. Before speaking, before dueling, before anything. Her older brother, a former Gryffindor, had told her it was the downfall of many a Ravenclaw: not being quick enough to the draw, always over thinking.
"Sure," Javier said slowly, "as friends?"
Ella grinned, "Thanks, Javier, that's great." Not wanting to seem rude, she curled her legs up under her body and leaned against the back of her chair, her book on her lap. And trying not to smile, she became absorbed in her book, satisfied that now George Weasley would finally leave her alone.
------------
George sighed dramatically as he plopped down on the floor next to Ron who was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Fred as Harry watched. "What happened, Forge?"
"Rejected, yet again, she threatened to ask someone else to make me stop asking her."
"Think she will?"
George sighed, "Probably, yea."
Ron looked up briefly from the game, "Who'd you ask?"
"Ella Wilson, Ravenclaw prefect."
Ron snorted and turned to Fred, "Did you get a date yet?"
Fred shook his head, eyes still on the game, "Not yet. You two got dates yet?"
Harry frowned, "Don't really know how to go about, you know…"
The twins laughed and Fred looked over to the portrait hole where Angelina, Alicia and Katie were walking in, "Oi! Angelina! Want to go to the dance with me?"
Angelina shrugged, "Why not, Weasley."
Ron and Harry blanched, but George laughed. "Alicia, got a date yet?"
She shook her head and laughed, "Only as friends, Weasley, don't get any ideas. I know about your undying love for that prefect."
George grinned, putting a hand on his heart, "How my date wounds me so!"
Alicia rolled her eyes and waved her hand at him as she walked up the stairs with Angelina and Katie. The twins turned to Ron and Harry, "That's how you do it."
"Bloody 'ell, you two are mental."
------------
Much to her relief, George didn't ask Ella to the ball again, but did ask her with whom she was going. She answered him with a sly grin, and George couldn't help but smile at her near-pleasantness towards him. She liked torturing him, liked being able to tell him she didn't want him, she had someone else, and George didn't know what to think of this new discovery.
It was like every time he talked to her, he learned something new about her. And he loved it. It wasn't the chase, the constant 'wooing' that thrilled him, it was the learning something new that thrilled him. It was like opening a gift everyday. As soon as he learned one thing, there was something else that needed to be discovered: there was always mystery surrounding Ella Wilson, no matter how much he learned about her.
George bothered her less as the ball got closer. She was sitting with Javier more, talking with him between classes, laughing at his jokes. Or at least, that's what George saw. He tried not to grow angry and jealous, but he couldn't help himself. Who was this kid she was hanging around, and why was he so special?
Ella knew that George was jealous. How could she not notice the glares he sent Javier? But what George didn't know was that it was all fake. Sure, Javier was pleasant enough, but Ella had to do all the work. Had to start conversations, had to make sure they continued. She had to sit next to him at meals, find him in the library, in the halls. Javier wasn't ignoring her, but he wasn't finding the energy to talk to her. So when George saw Ella laughing, it was at a story that she had told Javier, trying to get him to laugh with her. Javier, of course, never laughed.
Ella grew frustrated with him as the ball approached. She complained only a few times to her year-mates, knowing that they were preoccupied with their own lives, but Clara did gently point out to her that she had asked Javier as a friend.
"Am I not attractive enough or something? Or smart enough? I mean, I flirt with him, I'm nice to him, I talk to him! The least he could do was say 'hi' to me in the halls!"
Ramona, of course, agreed with her best friend. And Suze, ever the help, suggested pinning him up against the wall and snogging the beejesus out of him. Ella shook her head, "No, no, it was only to get Weasley to leave me alone, and he has, so it's fine."
But try as she might, Ella could never completely convince herself it was fine. She liked Javier: he was intelligent and he was nice enough (once prodded into conversation), that she couldn't help but wonder why he didn't make a move to even talk to her, let alone snog her. George always had a nice word or compliment….
But she wouldn't let herself think that way. Weasley was an annoyance, a troublemaker who didn't care about his schoolwork, no matter how many times she saw him in the library, he was the polar opposite of her.
As the ball got closer, she found herself less irritated with Javier, but more so with herself. Why was she letting herself think like this? About boys? She didn't need a boyfriend or some boy telling her how beautiful she looked to feel validated. Hogwarts wasn't about finding boyfriends. It was about the education. She had to stop thinking and worrying about Javier (and George) and focus on her studies, on her prefect duties, on maintaining friendships, not romantic relationships.
She had her whole life to worry about those.
---------
"Ramona!" Ella laughed as her best friend raced around their dorm, searching for her left heel. Suze turned from the mirror where she was (yet again) re-applying her heavy, dramatic, black eye make-up and laughed too. Clara adjusted her cleavage again, ignoring Ramona's hystericas, "Merlin, Grant better kiss me tonight or I'm going to be royally peeved."
Suze rolled her eyes at the petite brunette, as she twisted her jet-black, long locks into a low twist, "Don't get your knickers in a twist, Clara, you can always kiss him."
Clara opened her mouth to express her indignation verbally, but Ramona spoke first, "Bloody hell, can you guys help me find my heel? Steve will be waiting for me!"
Ella rolled her eyes and reaching under Ramona's bed, pulled the shoe out, "This what you're looking for there, princess?" Ramona hugged her best friend tightly and slipping on her shoe, turned to all the girls, "Ella, I love you, I love you, I love you, now if you ladies are ready, we can go?"
Clara pouted, "Grant's meeting me down at the Great Hall – can I walk with you guys?"
Suze laughed, "Don't worry, Derek is meeting me down there too."
"You finally picked Derek over Bobby?"
Suze laughed again, opening the door, "If things don't go well with Derek, Bobby said he'd save me at least one dance. Now, come on, ladies, let's go have fun at the ball!"
Ella rolled her eyes, but realized that Ramona and Clara were just as excited as Suze. Sighing heavily, she followed her friends out the door, plastering a smile on her face. She had nothing to prove: not to Javier, not to George, not to any of the Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff or Gryffindor boys, not even to herself.
He saw her as soon as she walked into the Hall. He was getting drinks for Alicia and him when he saw her. She walked in, not on the arm of her date, but merely walking next to him, behind that Ramona who she was always with, and her date. And her two year-mates (whatever their names were) in front of them. He didn't mean to stare at her, but he couldn't help it. He had never seen her out of her school robes wearing so little clothing. She was wearing a cream colored dress that was more simple than her friends, and yet she looked absolutely amazing in it. The twinkling stars of the ceiling reflected off her hair, giving her face an unearthly glow. Her dark, maroon hair contrasted brilliantly with her pale shoulders, and George watched her tuck some loose strands that had come out of her messy bun behind her ear.
But than he looked at her face and he felt a glimmer of hope and a simultaneous tinge of sadness. Her lips were smiling, but her hazel eyes were sad. He felt terribly that he was pleased, but this boded well for him: she obviously did not like Javier, or she would have been on his arm when they arrived, and she would have been happy. Any girl that looked that beautiful should be happy.
Alicia thanked him for her drink when he returned, and turned back to her conversation with Katie and Lee. George tried to keep from grinning to much to himself, pleased that maybe there was still some hope for Ella and him, but as turned to look out at the dance floor, he saw her.
Laughing.
Dancing.
With him.
Not Javier, no she was dancing with someone else. And he couldn't get a very good look at the bloke, but he could see her eyes. And she wasn't as sad as she had been when she walked in to the ball.
Sticking a smile on his face, he turned back to his friends, and with a dramatic flourish, asked his date to dance.
She watched him as he danced with his date, who she thought was Alicia. She hated to admit to herself, but he looked bloody fantastic in his dark green dress robes.
But she swore to herself, that's all she would notice or think about him for the night. She couldn't think about George Weasley when she was here solely to have a decent time, dancing with…well, she couldn't remember his name, but she was going to have fun. And not think about George Weasley.
And his green eyes.
And his broad, Quidditch shoulders.
She shook her head and turned to try and listen to whatever her dancing partner was saying, trying to forget Weasley.
At least for the moment.
--------------
The next few days were utterly miserable for Ella. She had to hear about how wonderful the ball was for everyone; how perfect their dates were; how romantic they were after the dance, and how they planned on going to Hogsmeade. She tried not to small her cup of tea down as she finished her breakfast in the Hall with her year-mates and silently cursed Dumbledore for making a Hogsmeade trip the day after the ball. Was he really as crazy as they said he was?
She stayed quiet throughout breakfast, completely ignoring Javier who was sitting at the far end of the table. But it wasn't exactly difficult to ignore someone who wouldn't talk to you anyway.
She looked up sadly at Clara who had said something to her. "Sorry, what?"
"Didn't you have fun with Javier last night, Ella?"
Ella looked at her friend pointedly. Clara might have been smart in her studies, but common sense was one thing she did not possess. "Considering I'm not currently talking to him, nor is he even looking in my direction, I would say no, I did not have fun with Javier last night."
Suze shrugged and swallowed a hearty spoonful of her oatmeal, "Well what about any of the other boys, eh? Have fun with any of them?"
Ella rolled her eyes, "I had a fine time last night, yes, but not with anyone in particular."
Clara frowned, "But what happened with Javier? He's dreamy?"
Ramona bit back a grin as she looked at Ella who tried not to roll her eyes, "Yes, but he doesn't really converse very well, with, anyone really." She went to stand up, "I'm glad you all had fun last night," she managed to smile, "but I have a lot of things I need to get done today, and I'm not feeling particularly well, so I'm going to stay here today."
Ramona frowned, "You sure?"
Ella nodded and grabbed her bag, "Yea, I'll see you later. Have fun."
George looked up from his toast just as Ella was leaving the Hall. Feeling considerably worse now that he had seen her (even seeing her by herself did not make him feel any better), and so decided to skip out on Hogsmeade. Fred and Angelina were too close for his liking, and he had some studying and parchments he should catch up on so he could focus a little more on their burgeoning business endeavor.
---------
He strolled into the library later that morning and dumped his things on an empty table, not even bothering to look for Ella. She was probably at Hogsmeade with some guy, just like everyone else.
Ella looked up, grumbling when she heard someone dump the contents of their bag loudly on a table a few rows away. She tried not to groan to see it was George, and instead tried to hide behind her stack of books. He was the last person who needed to see her alone in the library the day after the ball.
When she began to lose focus on her work, she stated to wonder why he was here alone. Why wasn't he with Alicia? She twirled a strand of hair between her fingers, thinking about George. Why was he so persistent in pursuing her anyway, and why did she miss it? What did he see in her that made him want to ask her out everyday? Was it one of his games that he created? Was she some sort of amusement for him? Or did he really, truly want to get to know her? She sighed, and before she could think twice, or even for a second more, she was walking over to his table.
As she approached it, she heard a faint tinkle of a laugh, the kind that only annoying blonde Muggle women in those terrible American comedies would make. As she peeked over one of the bookshelves, she saw her. The most annoying, obnoxious, beautiful Hufflepuff. She had long, blonde hair in perfect waves, and even though Ella couldn't see them now, she knew she had the prettiest sea-green eyes. And she was talking to George.
And Ella knew he wouldn't be able to resist her charms; Jenna might only be a 5th year, but what Jenna wanted, Jenna got. And it seemed like today, Jenna wanted George.
Ella left the library shortly after that, knowing that the days of George trying to woo her were over, and thankful that the Christmas hols were only a few short weeks away.
---------
Ella had never been so relieved and excited for the holidays her entire six years at Hogwarts. Ramona, Clara and Suze were too caught up in their own lives to even notice how melancholy and grumpy Ella had become. She focused even more on her studies, and when she ran out of things to study for her classes, she did research on possible careers, talking with her Professors, writing letters, and of course, continuing her prefect duties. It seemed like every night she was doing rounds. She was even more determined to become Head Girl.
George, however, noticed the change in her mood, even though he tried not to. Jenna, who he admitted to his twin was very attractive, and not entirely too annoying like most Hufflepuffs (Cedric Diggory excluded, of course), was shamelessly flirting with him. And since Fred was spending more time with Angelina, George threw caution to the wind, tried to forget about Ella (but did not admit defeat quite yet), and flirted back. They hadn't snogged yet, George didn't want to rush things, although Jenna didn't seem like the type of girl who would have minded. He continued to spend time on creating and inventing, but didn't mind the flirting in the halls.
He had found it odd, although he never brought it up again, that Jenna had become slightly angry when he had asked if Ramona was her sister, considering they shared the last name, were both blonde and looked slightly similar. "We're half sisters," she had said and George could hear the strain in her voice, "we don't really get along." It had never crossed his mind that this might actually affect Ella since she was best friends with Ramona. Nor did he ever know that Ella had been planning on talking to him that day in the library….
So it was with great relief when she finally got off the train. It had been a long ride – she was forced to sit in a car with Ramona and Steve who whispered to each other the entire time while Ella attempted to read one of her Muggle novels. Thankfully, there had been no Weasleys on the train. Ella's hazel eyes scanned the platform, looking for either of her parents, when her eyes rested upon a very tall, very lanky, maroon-haired man. "John?" she nearly screeched, dropping her bags and running towards him.
He laughed, picking her up in a large hug. Neither were aware that many students and their parents were staring at the two people whose only similarity was their odd shade of hair color. John was tall, lanky and extremely tan with clear grey eyes while his (much) younger sister was petite and very pale with clear hazel eyes. John put her down, still laughing, "Ready to go, El?"
She grinned as he picked up her trunk and took her hand. Feeling like a kid again, she swung their joined hands, "You staying for whole hols?"
"Yes, I am, and no," he grinned, knowing what she was going to ask next, "I didn't bring a girl this time." He laughed, "Come on, Mum and Pop are waiting for us for dinner."
-------------
Please review! More to come!! Thanks!!
