FULL SUMMARY: Dream after dream, Harry Potter sees a girl that just give him butterflies in his stomach; he is thoroughly convinces that this girl does to Hogwarts with him. His only problem with her? Every time he comes close to seeing the face of this girl, he wakes up from his dreams. So when he tells his best gal pal Elaine Port, she laughs and tries to convince Harry that maybe his so-called "dream girl" really is just in his dreams. Is Elaine right? Or is Harry's dream girl a reality?
DISCLAIMER: Though I find this completely unnecessary, I feel somewhat obligated to state that the Harry Potter franchise does not belong to me. Also, as you read the story, keep in mind that this is simply a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of their rightful owner's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
STORY DEDICATION: To swiftscout – the girl who used to mock my obsession for Harry Potter until she read the books cover to cover – this one's for you.
Chapter Eleven – Something's the Matter
Elaine poked at her dinner miserably; what else was she supposed to do? She had just given Harry – the boy she had crushed on since her second year – the green light to tell his girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, that she was the girl of his dreams.
"I am such a moron," she murmured to herself as she continued to slouch over her food.
"Can't say I completely disagree with you on that," Harry teased, taking his seat across the table. "What's wrong with you? You look… terrible!"
"That's something to tell a girl when she's already at her lowest point, Potter," Elaine joked with a faint smile. "Ginny's lucky to have you…"
The smile that managed to appear on Elaine's face faded as quickly as it materialized; the mention of Ron's little sister dating Harry hurt her. Instantly, she began poking at her food carelessly.
Harry noticed Elaine's quick mood swing. "No, seriously…" he went on, still eying her suspiciously. "What's the matter? We haven't spoken to each other in nearly two months now. And the first day we officially start talking again, you're depressed. Now can you please tell me what's wrong with that statement?"
Elaine rolled her eyes playfully. "I dunno, Harry!" she shrugged. "Maybe it's because we're officially talking again."
"Seriously, Elaine?" Harry groaned as he rolled his eyes.
Tossing her dark hair over her shoulder, Elaine laughed. "I really don't know what's wrong," she lied. "It's not you; if anything, I'm really glad we're speaking again. Look, I'll see you in the Common Room…"
With that, Elaine pushed her plate of food toward the center of the table and stood up. Then, she stood up and left the Great Hall before Harry could have a say.
Harry looked at Elaine's untouched tray of food; had she eaten at all? He sighed to himself, knowing that something was very wrong. The only problem was he did not know what it was that was bothering Elaine. They just started talking again; Elaine could not be distraught about that, could she?
"Women…" he complained.
Later that night, Harry found Elaine sitting by the fireplace. She appeared to be knitting while she was reading the night's copy of the Evening Prophet. Harry took mental notes that she looked even sadder than she did at dinner.
He still did not understand what was the matter with her; apparently, none of the girls from her dormitory knew either. From what the other girls had told him at dinner, Elaine seemed fine until their talk that afternoon. From what Harry saw, Elaine was like that when she was around him.
Harry slowly approached the silent, distraught teen. With a smile, he sat down across from her. Elaine did not look up from the evening's paper; she simply continued to knit whatever it was she was making – as if she did not notice Harry's presence.
"If you want to read the Prophet, you can have it," Elaine said, not looking up from the paper. "This thing basically exists to tell its readers what they want to hear."
"And you're read it because…?" Harry wondered, walking over to Elaine to retrieve the paper.
Elaine shrugged as she put her knitting needles on her lap. Harry had just taken the Prophet off her lap and sat beside her on the loveseat.
"I find the stories they publish complete rubbish nowadays," she admitted, "but I'm a sucker for their occasional Fiendishly Difficult Crossword puzzles."
"Ah," Harry said with a short nod. "So… are you feeling any better?"
Elaine sighed as she looked at the scarf she was knitting. "I don't feel any better. Do I at least look better?"
"Honestly?" Harry's wondered, his shoulders dropping as his gaze fell to Elaine. There was a blank stare in her brown eyes and lifelessness in her body language. "You look worse that you did at dinner."
Elaine sighed once more. "I really should go get some rest then…"
"You don't want to talk about it?" Harry asked.
"You should know me by now, Potter," she laughed. "I never want to talk about it. And even if I did… there's nothing to talk about."
Not with Harry, at least.
"If that's how you feel then. I respect it."
"G'night," Elaine bid her farewell as she stood to leave. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Night," Harry whispered to himself as Elaine disappeared beyond the stairs to her dormitory.
Author's Note: This chapter was rewritten and republished on November 8, 2013.
Okay, that took a lot long to rewrite than I actually thought. I ended up doing a bit of laundry and cleaning at the apartment. I kinda felt bad that I messed up his bedroom looking for something and then I tore apart the living room while studying. So… I helped him out a bit. LOL sorry about the wait. We leave in like five hours and he's already gone off to class, so I'm stuck in his apartment with nothing to do. That means I might get to adding a chapter to this soon! Yay!
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this update. Please don't forget to review! And I'll see you all in the next chapter. Bye for now!
- May
