(CoS) CHAPTER NINE: Thirteen

After sending the twins out to practice with Oliver, Ellie invited Harry back outside with her to practice her transformation. She hadn't shifted into her dog form in quite some time, and didn't want to get rusty.

To her relief, it worked almost effortlessly. Harry grinned in approval as she jumped affectionately up at him. Before she had the chance to turn back, though, they were approached by an unlikely sight to see outside during the day—Nearly Headless Nick.

"Nick," said Harry, sounded as confused as Ellie felt. "What are you doing outside the castle?"

"We are capable of leaving the castle grounds, you know," grumbled Nick, who sounded very downtrodden. He glanced down at Ellie and asked rather disinterestedly, "When did you get a dog?"

"Er… birthday present," Harry lied. "Something the matter, Nick?"

"Rejected for the Headless Hunt. Again."

"But…" Harry looked a bit amused. "It's just… you can't be totally surprised, can you? You aren't completely headless, after all."

"That's hardly the point, is it?" snapped Nick. "It's not as if I had a choice in the matter!"

Ellie found this entire conversation pretty amusing, but, given that she was still very much in her dog form, she couldn't say or do much about it.

"Well," said Harry, clearing his throat. "Is there… anything I can do to help?"

Nick's eyes probably would have lit up at that if they weren't already so dead. "Really? You'd do that for me?"

Harry frowned. "Do what, exactly?"

"My Deathday Party is coming up—on Halloween night, that is—and the Headless Hunt will be in attendance. If, perhaps, you and your friends came—even just for long enough to convince them how terrifying I am…"

Harry glanced down at Ellie's dog form. She nodded eagerly at him, feeling quite fascinated by the idea of attending an all-ghost party.

"O…kay, then," said Harry to Nick. "We'll be there."

The rest of the week went by fairly quickly. Fred and George managed to convince McGonagall to let them play at the feast, which Ellie told Harry she would get out of the way early enough to still attend the Deathday Party afterwards.

With Nick's permission, they had actually invited quite a few people to the event—Ron and Hermione, of course, along with the twins and even Dean.

The night before her birthday, Hermione stayed up with Ellie for several hours to chat, but didn't hold out nearly as long as Ellie, who finally fell asleep around midnight. She woke up four hours later without any more desire to sleep, and instead crawled quietly out of bed, pulled a bathrobe over her boxers and tank top, and headed down the stairs. She headed straight for the boys' staircase from there, and headed up to Fred and George's room.

George, Lee, and Kenneth were asleep, but Fred was sitting on his bed, looking out the window with a surprisingly serious expression on his face. Without realizing it, Ellie stood staring at him in the doorway for several seconds.

"Do I have to keep up this stoic thing much longer, or are you going to say something?" he asked her without moving.

"You're such a jerk," she said, blushing. "I never see you in Serious Fred Mode—sue me."

"Nah," he said cheerfully, turning toward her and rising to his feet. "I'd rather hug you, birthday girl."

It was as warm and comforting as all his hugs were, and as always, she found herself not wanting to let go.

He did, though. He always did. "So—how is it so far? You're up early."

"You know me—not much of a sleeper."

He smiled knowingly. "Same here, as you can see. Glad I'm your first stop of the day."

"Of course, you are. You're my best friend."

He kept his eyes on hers for a second, looking strangely surprised. Why was it so surprising to him, she wondered? She might not have ever said it outright, but surely he'd known she considered him her best friend?

"Well, you're mine, too," he finally said, "which is why there's a sub downstairs with your name on it. C'mon."

She followed him down the stairs, trying to push back the same frustrating, confusing feelings that seemed to keep coming up whenever she and Fred were alone together. He'd already shot her down, hadn't he? He'd already "friend zoned" her. What was the point in feeling any of it?

"So," said Fred in the common room as he put together their subs. "How are you feeling about the set list today? Still going to end with the original you wrote?"

She nodded. She was terrified to perform an original song in front of the entire school, but she'd worked hard on the lyrics, and Fred, George, and Ginny had all helped put together some incredible instrumentals.

"And you're sure you want to go to this Deathday Party right after, instead of staying and eating delicious food with our classmates?"

She laughed. "Tell me how you really feel, won't you? Am I the only one who thinks this party sounds awesome?"

"Pretty much. If I were you, I'd take it as a compliment so many people agreed to go at all. Which reminds me—George backed out." He winked at her. "Guess that's why I'm the best friend, eh?"

"That traitor!" she gasped, though she wasn't actually that hurt. She just preferred to joke about that than to think about how she felt when Fred winked at her.

"You're going to have a fabulous birthday, El," he said as he handed her her sub and took a seat next to her on the couch to eat his. "I just wish you'd let me listen to your lyrics by now."

Though she'd shared the melody with the band so they could help come up with the right instrumentals, she hadn't actually shared the lyrics with any of them. She wanted them to come as a surprise. "You'll hear them soon enough."

They chewed in contented silence for several minutes until, finally, Ellie yawned. "I think I'm finally getting tired," she admitted. "Little backwards, isn't it?"

He chuckled, not hesitating to put an arm around her. "C'mon, then. Let's get a little shuteye in before the mayhem begins."

Her sleep schedule wasn't the only thing that was backwards, she mused as she nestled into his chest and closed her eyes. For two people supposedly in the friend zone, she seemed to fall asleep in his arms quite often.

But it felt too good to resist.

"Your boyfriend would be pretty pissed about this, El."

Ellie's eyes blinked open in confusion as she woke up to remember that she had fallen asleep in the common room with Fred. George was peering down at her, looking more amused than angry. She glanced up at Fred, who was also just waking up, then back to George and grumbled quietly, "Dean's not my boyfriend."

"Yet," George finished for her. "Anyway, I can't believe you two lovebirds didn't call me when you woke up. We have a long and important day ahead of us!"

Ellie glanced again at Fred, who had a surprisingly soft expression on his face. He sent her a gentle, sort of knowing smile that made her feel like she was melting right into the floor, then said, "Long and important and eased with heaps of gifts and love."

"Now, go on, birthday girl," added George. "Get into some actual clothes before the rest of the house gets down here."

Blushing as she realizing she was still in her PJ's and a bathrobe, Ellie rushed back up the stairs to change. Her roommates squealed "happy birthday"s to her when she arrived, then almost immediately went downstairs, which she found odd.

Ellie rarely put much effort into her appearance, but today, she took a few minutes to try. She had grown an inch or two in the past year, and her dark hair had grown a bit longer, but other than that, she looked about the same as she always did. She ran a brush through her thick, wavy hair, pulled on one of her nicer outfits (a pair of dark wash jeans and a blue, v-neck tee—nothing crazy), and headed back down the stairs.

The transformation the common room had taken in the ten or fifteen minutes she'd been gone was astounding. Suddenly, there were balloons, banners, and streamers everywhere, and nearly every member of the Gryffindor House seemed to be down there shouting "happy birthday!" to her. There was even music playing.

"You jerks," she told the twins when she came over to hug them again. "This was you, wasn't it?"

"I don't have the faintest idea of what you're talking about," said Fred innocently. "Now, come on. Let's party."

That Fred keeps redeeming himself and then un-redeeming himself, doesn't he? How much of it can Ellie take before she decides to go in a different direction? And how is this Halloween concert/death day party going to go? There's lots of juicy drama coming up, so make sure not to miss a moment of it, and please review to show your support if you're enjoying the story! Loved seeing those new reviews from EllieCast4, keep it up!