(PoA) CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Fourteen Candles
At midnight on Ellie's fourteenth birthday, she met Fred in the common room—same as it ever was.
"Happy birthday, El!" he cheered at her as confetti blew out of his wand. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and gave her a rather startling kiss on the top of her head.
"Thanks," she mumbled, trying not to blush as she pulled away from him. "Only two years until I catch up with you. Wait… that's not new."
He laughed as he guided her over to the sofa by the fire. "Less than two, technically. You being old for your year and me being young for mine."
She tried not to think about Sirius' words in the pit—Perhaps Fred is simply the only gentleman in the room. He certainly seemed to have put a lot of thought into her age.
"So, I was thinking," he continued. "What if we put on a little show today? We haven't performed since last year's Halloween concert, and we've put together a few original pieces."
She'd almost entirely forgotten about their little rock band, The Weasleys, as of late. It wasn't a bad idea, but it was very short notice. "I haven't written any new stuff," she said, frowning. "Wouldn't exactly leave me much time to do so. Besides, won't you be in Hogsmeade today while Harry and I are stuck here?"
"Not a chance. We've got an alternate route from the Marauder's Map ready to go. All you have to do is change into a dog… and stay out of eyeshot of McGonagall and Dumbledore."
She frowned. "And leave Harry behind?"
He looked annoyed by that question. "No—of course, not. Bring him—he can use his cloak." Looking rather eager to change the subject, he asked, "Want your present now?"
She grinned. Fred always gave the best gifts of anyone she knew. "Yes, please."
"Okay—close your eyes."
She did as instructed, waiting impatiently as she heard him rise to his feet, then fumble with one of the cabinets nearby. When he returned, he placed something heavy across her lap. She reached down for it, eyes still closed, and gasped when she felt guitar strings.
"Go on, then," said Fred cheerfully. "Open them."
It was a Fender Strat, but not just any Fender Strat; it was a magical one, charmed with everything from an automatic whammy bar to auto-tuning strings.
"It was Kirley Duke's," Fred explained. "Before he upgraded."
"Kirley Duke, as in the lead guitarist of the Weird Sisters?" Ellie demanded, jaw nearly dropping.
He nodded. "That's his signature there, on the bottom."
She followed his gaze to the bottom of the guitar, which had been signed in black Sharpie.
"Fred," she breathed, shaking her head. "This is too much. You shouldn't have—"
"I didn't have to pay," he interrupted. "It was a contest thing—send in a letter about why you should get it. Apparently mine was the best."
"Really? Can I read it?"
His eyes bulged at that, and he said a little too quickly, "No. I, er… didn't save a copy."
Was he lying? Had the letter been about her?
Did it matter? If Sirius was right, and Fred did have feelings for Ellie, the safest thing was to avoid any mention of it. She was with Harry, not Fred.
Ellie took her new guitar upstairs a few minutes later, propping it carefully up on her old guitar stand and putting the old guitar in her trunk. She drifted off to sleep for a few hours, then woke up to the squealing of the girls in her suite as they spotted the new guitar.
"Kirley Duke's?" swooned Parvati. "How cool is that? Did Harry give it to you?"
"Actually, Fred did," Ellie admitted quietly.
"Wow," managed Lavender. "Guy's doing some serious pining for you, isn't he?"
Ellie did her best to dismiss this notion, though it was growing harder and harder.
"Well, my present doesn't exactly compare to that," said Hermione, "but I hope you like it." She handed Ellie a nicely wrapped present with a pretty, blue bow.
It was a book on dueling spells, Ellie learned when she opened it—and it was by far one of the coolest books Ellie had ever seen. There were two hundred pages, every two pages dedicated to a different spell.
"This is awesome, Hermione," Ellie said eagerly, reaching out to hug her friend. "Thanks!"
From Lavender and Parvati, she received a rather less useful book: Advice on Boys for the Very Confused Girl.
"Much needed, if your obviously plummeting relationship with the Boy Who Lived is any indication," Parvati explained cheerfully. "Oh, but wait 'til you see what Ginny got you."
Ellie tried not to think about the fact that it was apparently common knowledge that her relationship was crumbling, instead focusing on Ginny Weasley, who had entered their suite as if on cue. She smiled widely when she saw Ellie, handing her a small, gift-wrapped bag.
Ellie shot Ginny a very sarcastic look when she opened it. It was a push-up bra.
"Well, I couldn't help but notice you were starting to have some… development… there," Ginny teased with a grin. "Figured you could use this on special occasions, you know—involving low-cut blouses."
Ellie rolled her eyes. "When, exactly, am I going to be wearing low-cut blouses, Ginny?"
Lavender grinned at Parvati at that. "Why don't you leave that answer to Advice on Boys?"
From Ron, Ellie received a pair of Quidditch goggles; from Oliver, another beautiful piece of jewelry. She tried to shove the icy, crystal earrings back at him, but, of course, he refused. George gave her the latest update on he and Fred's work with becoming Animagi—according to him, they'd be done in as little as a year. She doubted that, but humored him with a thank you.
Harry greeted her with a kiss, but no gift. She pulled him aside to tell him about Fred's alternate route to Hogsmeade, trying not to read too much into his lack of gift.
"Any other time I'd be eager to go," said Harry, frowning, "but I actually already told Lupin I'd meet him."
She stiffened a little too obviously at that. "What? Why?"
"I think he wants to explain why he hasn't given me a shot with the Boggart yet."
"Oh." She nodded, relieved. "That makes sense. Well, then, do you mind if I go ahead to Hogsmeade? Since you'll be with Lupin anyway?"
"Sure. Use my cloak, if you want." He handed her a small key to his drunk, kissed her on the cheek, and disappeared through the portrait hole.
"Weird," said Ron from behind Ellie. "Even I noticed."
Ellie turned to face Ron, frowning. "Has he said anything to you?"
"You mean, besides the twelve hundred times he's told me how crazy is about you?" Ron asked with a teasing grin. "He did mention that you're keeping something from him, but he also sort of seemed to understand why. Does that help?"
"Yeah," she lied, forcing a smile. "Thanks, Ron."
When she reached Harry's room to fetch the cloak, Ellie spotted a wrapped present on his bed with her name on it. He hadn't neglected to get her something, she realized with a relieved sigh; he'd simply forgotten to bring it down to her.
And he understood why she was hiding things from him. Which meant everything was fine.
Right?
The Hogsmeade trip wasn't quite as much fun as she hoped. Being under the cloak kept her from being able to have much fun. The twins brought her Butterbeers and gifts from Zonko's, and she managed to sneak in with them to a few of the less densely populated stores, but she found herself constantly worried about bumping into people and, even worse, thinking about Harry.
Getting back to the castle was as easy as sneaking out had been, and they got back in no time. Ellie put the cloak back in Harry's trunk and headed down to the common room as if she'd been there the whole time. Fred, seeming to sense her sadness, tried to cheer her up by using some of the Zonko's products on unsuspecting first years, and she couldn't help but laugh.
Before long, everyone else had returned from Hogsmeade and started to get ready for the Halloween feast. But first, Ellie, Ginny, and the twins had some business to attend to.
"I never got around to writing lyrics," Ellie admitted as they strode to McGonagall's office. "But I can always wing it, right?"
"Sure," said George, snorting. "'Cause that's how all the great songs were made."
"This is incredibly short notice," said McGonagall after they pitched their request for a concert to her. "Tonight? You hadn't thought of this idea sooner?"
"It's just one song," Ellie told her. "We can do it after the feast, so whoever wants to leave, can. Say—nine o'clock?"
McGonagall sighed. "I'll speak with Albus about it—but only because I very much enjoyed your last original song."
"Really?" asked George, beaming. "I'm touched."
Dumbledore said yes to the concert, and Ellie spent the majority of the feast attempting to scribble out song lyrics to go with the melody the rest of them had put together. But she was drawing a blank. What was she supposed to write about—her relationship with Harry, who had barely spoken to her on her own birthday? Her relationship with Fred, who seemed to care more about her than her own boyfriend did? Or her relationship with her father, the fugitive?
How about your frustrations with all of the above? her inner voice mused as she started to scribble out words.
At the end of the feast, Dumbledore announced to everyone that The Weasleys would be returning an hour later to perform an original song, and that anyone who wanted to hear it was welcome to attend.
Percy and the other prefects ushered them back to the dormitories at that. Ellie went along with the rest of her house, eager to change and get a little last-minute practice in before the concert. When they reached the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower, though, everyone stopped short. The Fat Lady was gone; in her place was a slashed, empty frame.
"Someone get Dumbledore immediately!" shouted Percy. He glanced frantically around, eyes settling on a cackling Peeves the poltergeist. "Peeves—what happened?"
"They can't catch him, can they?" giggled Peeves. "Been trying for months and months already… and now he's gone and slashed the Fat Hag…"
A deep, twisting knot started forming in Ellie's gut. It couldn't be. There had to be some other explanation.
"Who?" Percy demanded as Ellie braced herself for the worst.
"Sirius Black, of course!"
Uh-oh! We all remember this from the original story, of course, but didn't you think it would play out differently with Sirius having new motivations? Something tells me Ellie is not going to be happy with him... nor Fred, for that matter. Review away and see you soon!
