Chapter 3

Elsa paid for her new school robes and left Madam Malkin's shop without saying a word, at least to Madam Malkin. "Conceal it, don't feel it," she told herself repeatedly. "Conceal it, don't feel it." She walked down the streets of Diagon Alley, not really caring where to go next, breathing heavily and telling herself the same advice her father had given her.

After a few minutes, she'd finally calmed herself down and decided it was time to continue her shopping. She still had to buy her spell books, potion ingredients, and a new cauldron.

She was just making her way to Flourish and Blotts bookshop, when she heard a far too familiar voice shouting her name.

"ELSA! ELSA! OVER HERE!"

She looked in the direction the voice had come from and saw Anna, who was sitting at a table outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor with two other girls. Elsa waved curtly and tried to continue on her way without drawing attention to herself. But Anna clearly wouldn't have it.

"ELSA! COME HERE AND SIT WITH US!"

Elsa froze in her tracks and sighed. All she wanted at the moment was to finish her shopping as quickly as possible and then track down Belle and Rapunzel. Although, the thought of ice cream did sound very nice, especially on such a warm August day. She put on a calm smile and walked over to Anna's table. The two other girls looked over at her and finally she could see whom they were. Two of Anna's closest friends and fellow Hufflepuffs: seventh years Tiana Jackson and Charlotte La Bouff. Elsa suddenly felt uneasy. She knew the two girls well enough, as they were all in the same year, but not well enough that she could sit and socialize with them.

Tiana was the seventh year Prefect of Hufflepuff. She was polite, but also rather stern and she valued hard work above all things. She was popular among her fellow Hufflepuffs, and it wasn't hard to see why. Her hard work always paid off. She got excellent grades and was never afraid to speak her mind. It also helped that she was undeniably beautiful with her dark complexion, wavy hair, brown eyes, and dimples.

Charlotte was an entirely different ball of wax. The best word to describe her, as far as Elsa knew, was "ditzy". She was sweet, perky, and very loud. No one ever took her seriously and she took very few things seriously. But she wasn't without her good qualities. She too was beautiful: short blonde curls, shining blue eyes, rosy pink lips. She was also very social and, though coming from a very rich family and having a spoiled upbringing, willing to give generously to others. Elsa could easily understand why she and Anna would be such good friends.

The three Hufflepuffs smiled at Elsa as she arrived at the table.

"Good afternoon, Tiana. Charlotte."

"Afternoon, Elsa," Tiana greeted casually.

"Oh, Elsa!" Charlotte shouted as soon as Elsa took her seat. "Your sister's just been tellin' us the most wonderful news!" She gasped when she noticed Elsa's Head Girl badge. "It's true! You're Head Girl! Oh congratulations, darlin'! You must be over the moon!"

Elsa, feeling a bit uncomfortable at this overly welcome greeting, could not think of anything to say other than, "Thanks, Charlotte."

"Yeah, great job Elsa," Tiana agreed.

"And this is a great time to celebrate!" Anna squealed. "We just ordered a large triple chocolate sundae."

"It's all on me," Charlotte said proudly.

"That sounds delicious," Elsa said truthfully. She did love chocolate as much as the next girl. "But I really don't think I should stay for too long."

"Oh come on, Elsa," Anna begged, giving her big sister puppy dog eyes. "This is your last year at Hogwarts and we're hardly ever going to see each other. I want to make sure what little we have lasts."

Elsa, though horrified as ever of accidentally revealing her glaciatous powers, couldn't resist this temptation. After all, what harm could come from enjoying ice cream with her sister for a short time? Even if it was with two other girls who made her nervous on different levels.

"Alright, I'll stay, but not too long."

"Yay!" Anna squealed again.

Moments later, a waiter appeared at their table carrying a large bowl of chocolate ice cream that took up almost the whole table top. "There you are, ladies," he said. "Enjoy."

The four girls gazed happily at the masterpiece of a sundae in front of them.

"You, Sir, are about to get the best tip of your life!" Charlotte reached into her purse, pulled out at least ten gold galleons, and practically threw them into the waiter's hands.

"Thank you, Miss La Bouff," said the waiter in a thrilled voice. He then ran off and left the four girls alone.

For a few minutes, they ate their ice cream in silence, marveling in the delicious, rich taste and hoping to savor it as long as they could. Once or twice, Elsa had to remind herself that she couldn't stay too long.

Anna was the first to break the silence. "Isn't this nice? All of us relaxing here eating the best ice cream in the whole wizarding world?"

"Well considering the episode I just had at Madam Malkin's, I'd say yes," Elsa admitted.

"What happened?" asked Anna.

"I had a less than pleasant encounter with that awful Drizella Tremaine," Elsa replied.

Tiana and Charlotte looked as though they were going to gag at the sound of Drizella's name.

"Ugh! Don't talk about that slimy little troll while I'm eatin'," Charlotte exclaimed.

"Seriously," agreed Tiana. "That girl is enough to make Professor Fauna curse."

"What'd she do to you, Elsa?" Anna asked.

Elsa suddenly became nervous again. She couldn't very well say that Drizella had provoked her by taking her glove and almost causing her to blast a hale storm with the powers that she'd been keeping bottled up her whole life.

"Uh… She took my glove and almost didn't take it back," Elsa replied quietly.

The three Hufflepuffs stared back at her in disbelief.

"Is that all?" Tiana asked in a voice that rang with a hint of suspicion.

Elsa looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Drizella Tremaine has done some very low things, and I mean very low," said Tiana. "We're talkin' about the girl who purposely fed Aurora Briar's pet bird to her cat just two years ago. And now here you are tellin' us how horrible she is just because she took your glove? That's honestly the nicest thing I've ever heard of her doin'."

Elsa was beginning to feel offened. "You don't understand."

"Obviously," said Tiana. "What's the big deal if she just took your glove?

"Um, Tia?" Charlotte interrupted.

Tiana ignored her and continued to ask, "Can you not live without them or somethin'? Don't you ever take them off?"

"Tia!"

"Or are you trying to hide somethin' from us? What's the issue?"

The more questions Tiana asked, the more it seemed she was hitting the nail on the head. Once again, Elsa felt herself losing control. It wasn't that she wanted to hurt Tiana, who remarkably was actually being nicer than Drizella had been. She simply wanted the questions to stop. At that moment, she arose from her seat to order Tiana to stop asking question.

"Elsa?"

Her anger melted away when she heard another familiar voice say her name from behind. She quickly turned and found herself face to face with her two best friends: Belle, who looked as she always did with her hazel eyes and long brown hair tied back with a blue ribbon, and Rapunzel, who had large green eyes, freckled features, and very short dark brown hair.

Elsa sighed. "Oh am I happy to see you both," she said, breathing heavily as she had after her encounter with Drizella.

"What's the matter, dear?" asked Belle. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," said Elsa. "I'm fine. I'm just not having the best day."

Rapunzel stroked Elsa's cheek and affectionately asked, "Are you okay? Do you wanna talk about it?"

Elsa nodded and calmly replied, "Not here, please."

Rapunzel, knowing how her best friend tended to get nervous in social situations, looked accusingly at Anna, Tiana, and Charlotte. "What did you say to her?" she asked them.

"Not now and not here," Elsa insisted.

Belle and Rapunzel looked at each other and then back at their friend. "Very well," said Belle. "Let's go to my room at the Leaky Cauldron. You can tell us everything there."

Elsa said goodbye to Anna and then followed her fellow Ravenclaws to the Leaky Cauldron. Before the trio of Hufflepuffs were out of earshot, Elsa heard Anna say in an annoyed voice, "Thanks a lot, Tiana."

This was followed by Tiana saying, "I didn't know the gloves were such a touchy subject to her."

End of chapter