It had been weeks since Harry had met Elle at the Lake, he had returned to his state of isolation and depression and it seemed as though the numbers of Dementors had increased, this had made Hogwarts so much darker. Harry had seen Elle in passing a few times and she greeted him with a polite smile. Of course she would never fully greet him knowing the effects of that decision.
With his constant mood Harry had started to fall behind in his work, he thought seeing as though he was unable to go to Hogsmede he would use the opportunity to catch up on his work. Harry made his way to the Library trying hard not to think about how much fun Ron and Hermione were having, wanting so badly to be joining them. Harry mopped his way into the library, under the very watchful eye of Madam Pince, the scent of dust and parchment filled his nostrils and he let out a sigh. It echoed there was no one to be seen; he decided to find a nice place by a window to perhaps lift his mood and escape from the watchful eyes of Madam Pince.
The echo of his footsteps was interrupted by a voice that was only just familiar to him.
"Hi Harry" said Elle smiling up at him, she was sitting at a desk covered with books and parchment. The window behind her was glowing slightly. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Hogsmede?"
"I could ask you the same thing" he said returning her smile, he paused. "Looks like you're a tad busy so I might just-"
"Oh no, not at all come join me" she interrupted smiling again; she started clearing the desk piling her books and parchment, Harry slumped his bag onto the table with a thump.
"Woah, easy on. Haven't been doing our homework obviously" she said laughing.
"Yeah, just haven't been in the mood really, looks about the same for you" he said looking at the endless piles of books and parchment.
"Ah no, this is just extra stuff, gets my mind off things." She said smiling at him, her smile slowly faded and she opened up one of her books and started reading. Harry could see that she was upset; it showed in her face it was almost painful to look at.
"It's probably none of my business but what exactly are you trying to get your mind off?" Harry asked hoping this might make her feel better. She looked up at him a small smile on her face.
"Ah it's so stupid, it's been twelve years but I still miss them sometimes." She looked out the window; Harry started to feel a sharp pain in his chest.
"When you said we weren't so different you meant-"Harry started.
"My parents were murdered, when I was two." She interrupted.
"My father was betrayed by a man he considered a brother." She paused "I'm okay now it's just days like today I miss them, it would've been her birthday today. I just can't help but think what life would've been like if they were still alive. Do you ever think about that Harry?" she asked looking at him her ice blue eyes piercing his.
"Of course, everyday." He said looking away from her stare.
"Right, I'm sorry." Looking down as though she had done something wrong. "I suppose being here, having everyone know your story. It would make it so much harder. Although you have all this attention you'd probably feel more alone than anyone else." She said trying to catch his eyes again.
"Yeah." Harry paused looking up at him from the corner of his eye. He felt as though there was an understanding between the two of them. They both knew what it felt like. There was a long silence Harry started to feel cold, there was a cracking noise on the window and then that feeling he knew all too well.
"There close, here have this" said Elle throwing Harry a chocolate frog. "I found a spell here somewhere" she started looking through her books "Ah, here it is. I've heard of it before but I've never actually done it. It's called Expecto Patronum, if cast correctly it can repel even the strongest of Dementors. You should ask Professor Lupin to help you out with it. He's quite clever, and I'm sure he'd understand why you would want to learn something so complex. I mean beats walking around with chocolate in your back pocket doesn't it" She said smiling again, Harry returned the smile.
"Thanks" he said "For everything I mean. It's nice to know someone understands." He said, starting to eat his chocolate.
"Same" she said smiling at him eating some chocolate herself. They continued the rest of the afternoon talking about all different things. Elle was quite knowledgeable and had helped Harry a great deal lot with his homework.
As the sun started setting they decided to call it a day. Ron and Hermione were sure to be back from Hogsmede by now. He and Elle both headed towards the Great Hall for some dinner, the halls were buzzing from the excitement, and Harry couldn't help but feel slightly envious.
"Why is it that you're not allowed to go?" said Elle seeing the obvious disappointment on Harry's face.
"Well my Aunt and Uncle are very anti magic, anything related to it is considered freakish and abnormal. I don't think they would've signed the permission form; they like to keep the whole out of sight out of mind perspective when it comes to magic. There's also the fact that I blew up my Aunt Marge at the beginning of this year and was sort of in a rush to get out of there" he started laughing.
"Wow, creative. There obviously muggles then?" said Elle
"Yeah, my Aunt Petunia is my mother's sister; my mother was the only witch in the family. I hate it there in that house, I feel so suffocated. But here I feel so free, this is my real home." Said Harry pausing. "So what about you? How come you didn't go to Hogsmede?" he said.
"Well I can't really afford to go out and buy things I don't need. I live with my Gran you see, we have money but it's not a lot, so if I don't go I resist the temptation to spend. That way I can spend it on things I need. It's hard for us. But we always manage." She said smiling she had a different look in her eye and Harry couldn't tell if it was sadness.
"Is your Gran a witch?" he asked.
"No, she married a wizard. They had my mum and her two brothers. They all ended up being witches and wizards."
"How come you don't live with them? Your uncles, it would be very hard on your Gran to raise you." He asked.
"Well ones in Azkaban, and the other is dead." She said. Harry had suddenly felt very guilty for asking that question.
"Im sorry." He said instantly.
"It's okay Harry. The only family I've got is my Gran. It's not hard for her; she helped raise my mum and her brothers. So I can't see how I'd be any different. She's always worrying about me; I think because she's lost so much already she's so scared to lose anything else." She said looking at Harry she was feeling some sort of pain Harry could see it but she still had a smile on her face. She was pure joy despite all the things she had experienced already in her life.
They had made their way into the Great Hall, Harry could see Ron's bright ginger hair from a mile away and Hermione was sitting next to him they had already started eating. Harry turned to Elle she was looking over at the Slytherin table, Harry followed her stare she was looking at Malfoy he was glaring at the two of them and Elle seemed to look stressed. She finally broke away from the tense exchange and turned to Harry.
"Well it was nice talking with you today Harry. As always" she said barely smiling, Harry could see the obvious stress on her face, an expression that looked almost foreign to her face. He looked back over to the Slytherin table Malfoy was still staring at them both.
"Yeah, it was good. See you around?" Harry asked, hopefully.
"Sure" she smiled widely at him and she walked off towards her table. Harry watched as she went to sit down, she sat alone. Trying to ignore the quite obvious glaring eyes of Draco Malfoy. Harry began to feel uneasy. Elle looked almost fearful, isolated from the rest of the Slytherins. Was it Harry's fault that she had become an outcast? He did want to cause her any more pain than she had already felt. She looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back, he walked over to his table and sat down with Ron and Hermione, and just as he suspected they began talking about Hogsmede and how boring it was only to make Harry feel better of course.
Harry sat absent minded and only responded when he needed to, his mind was focused on Elle and the guilt he felt. But also suspicion, why was it that Malfoy seemed so tense? And Elle so stressed to be under his stare? He kept looking over at Elle she had gathered a few friends but she still seemed frazzled. Harry was concerned; he made a decision right then and there. He was stay away from Elle for her sake, so he couldn't cause her anymore pain.