Chapter Four

Elliot pocketed her wand and hitched her bag over her right shoulder. She had carefully placed Cedric's book in the very front of the bag, just in case he asked her for it. She had skipped breakfast, again, in order to finish her Potions essay. If Oliver found out, he would be livid. He hated when she skipped breakfast just to finish work, but he could never possibly understand how she felt. He wasn't constantly compared to an older sibling. He wasn't always approached by people who just wanted to get to know your older brother. Elliot's drive to be nearly perfect at school work was her only way to get out from under Oliver's shadow.

She left the tower and began making her way down to the Herbology greenhouses. She wanted to be a few minutes early, even though they weren't allowed to go into the greenhouses until Professor Sprout came for them.

" Oi, E.C.!"

She turned around and saw George.

She must've walked past him as she came down the steps.

" Good morning, George." she said as she walked back to him.

" Where are you going?" he asked as he finished off his piece of toast.

" The greenhouses." she replied.

" Can you wait for me? Fred and Lee are bent on finding a new passageway before class."

Elliot was torn. What if she ran into Cedric? With George there, she wouldn't be able to get into a revealing conversation. But she couldn't just tell George no.

" Sure." she said as she sat down on the bottom of the fifth flight of stairs.

She was sitting there rather comfortably, until the things started to move.

" Oh, this is just great." she muttered as the stairs went from the third floor to the seventh floor.

On the North Tower.

Elliot had never been there before, and managed to get lost within minutes. It also didn't help by her checking her wide strap, black band watch that she had ten minutes to get to class.

" This day just gets better." she said as she wandered around the corridors.

She passed absolutely no one, save for some portraits. Elliot finally managed to find a set of stairs, but just managed to get herself lost even more.

" There she is."

Elliot whirled around and saw her unlikely saviors.

" What's that?" she asked as she pointed to a rather old looking piece of parchment.

She peered down at it and saw that it resembled a map, though none she had ever seen before.

" It's a long story. We'll explain later." Fred said smoothly. " After all, we only have five minutes to get to class."

Elliot almost screamed, but held it back. They would surely lose points for being late.

" Come on. There's a short cut that'll get us down to the Entrance Hall in just a few." George said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

They barely made it to the Herbology greenhouses. Professor Sprout was about to close the door to the Greenhouse Number One when they arrived.

" Hurry, lads." she admonished lightly as she held the door open.

All in all, Elliot's day greatly improved. She managed to get Gryffindor ten points in Herbology, another ten in Transfiguration, and was thoroughly worn out as she walked into the Great Hall for lunch.

" Elliot?"

She looked over her shoulder to see Cedric standing naught but two feet from her.

" Yes?" she said, hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt.

Of course, Elliot always looked composed, even when in the most dire of circumstances. To Cedric, she appeared as cool as a cucumber. Her eyes withheld emotion, her face was the same color, and her lips remained in a passive line.

" My book. You took it by mistake yesterday. I didn't realize it until I got back to my dorm last night." he stammered.

" Oh, I think I still have it."

She honestly didn't know if she did. Fred had gotten a hold of her bag in Transfiguration, and she had no clue if it was still in there.

She rummaged around in it, and after a few minutes of looking through her black bag, she dug it out.

" Here." she said as she handed it to him. " Is that all?"

Since when had she become so outgoing?

" Um…yeah."

Elliot refused to let her face look as crestfallen as she felt. " Well, I'll see you around."

With that, she turned on her heel and continued walking to Gryffindor table.

A.N.- I would like to thank all of you lovely readers who have reviewed this fan fiction! I would also like to apologize for not updating in a while as well. Most importantly, I would like to thank Kirstie for pointing out that Essex is a county, not a city. Again, thanks to all of you who have reviewed. Later!