CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Christmas, Part Two
"D'you reckon George and I could become Animagi?" Fred asked Ellie on the morning of Christmas Eve. They had both woken up exceptionally early, as usual, and Ellie had sent a message to him via their communication jewelry to meet her by the fireplace.
"No way," she said. "It's way too dangerous."
"Like that's ever stopped us," Fred said dismissively. "I still can't believe you told Harry. It was our special thing!"
"I don't like keeping secrets," she said for what she felt like the hundredth time. "You didn't complain when it was you I refused to keep secrets from, did you?"
"No, but I'm your best friend. He's already got two of those, hasn't he?"
Ellie only laughed. She knew that Ron and Hermione were Harry's best friends, and she didn't mind. They were well-suited for each other, and anyway, she had the twins. Still, she liked the three of them, and she had no intentions of writing them off just because they were closer with each other than they were with her.
"You two are up early," said a voice from behind them. Ellie whirled to see Oliver Wood, looking charmingly casual in a hoodie and a pair of jeans, lazily striding over to join them by the fire. "All good?"
"All good," said Ellie, who tried not to blush as he sent her his most charming smile. "We were just talking about… the concert."
She felt Fred shoot her a pointed look at that, but ignored it.
"Looking forward to it," said Oliver eagerly. "By the way—who'll be doing the singing?"
"Fred," Ellie said quickly. "Nobody wants to hear me sing."
But Oliver leaned forward at that, eyebrows raised in an almost devilish way, as he said, "I do."
Ellie stared back at him, feeling her blush deepen, until, suddenly, Fred stood abruptly up.
"Got to go," he said shortly. "Later."
And he left.
However badly Ellie's heart was pounding before Fred left, it was worse now. Had she ever been alone with a boy like this before? She'd been alone with Fred loads of times, but Oliver was… different. Scarier. She was sure that whatever tension existed between them was all in her head—someone like Oliver couldn't possibly be interested in someone like her—but what it wasn't? He was way too old for her, and she was way too young for anyone; no wonder Fred had stormed off.
"I've… got to go, too," she stammered suddenly, rising to her own feet and heading for the door. "See you later."
Neither Ellie nor Fred mentioned the awkward moment with Oliver in the common room for the rest of the day. They nibbled in silence at their meals as George obliviously drawled on about their playlist for the concert the following day, and Ellie spent the rest of the day wrapping her presents for everyone. Fred sent her no messages that night, nor early the next morning. Finally, when it was time for breakfast, she sent him one—Happy Christmas! What time are Ginny and your parents due?
We were just about to head outside, he replied. We'll wait for you.
Feeling slightly hurt by the lack of initial invitation, Ellie scrambled into some clothes and shoes and darted down the stairs, where the twins were waiting. This time, George didn't drawl on in oblivion; he, too, seemed eerily quiet.
"Oh, come off it, already," Ellie finally snapped as they left the common room and headed for the main doors. "Are you really mad at me?"
"You're just so young!" Fred shouted, apparently emboldened by her ripping off the Band-Aid, as it were. "Don't you get that, El?"
"What happened to the jokes about us snogging and him being my boyfriend?" she demanded. "What changed?"
"We didn't think he actually was your boyfriend," pointed out George as they stepped out of the castle. "Fred says you were making eyes at each other like… like…"
"Oh, stop it!" Ellie exclaimed, shaking her head. "You're being ridiculous. I'm not dating Ollie. I'm not dating anyone. I'm twelve!"
The relief that clouded both twins' eyes—but especially Fred's—was clear as day. Before he got the chance to address it, or to apologize, a bright, blue Ford Anglia came soaring down at them from the sky.
"Bloody hell," cursed Ginny Weasley when the car landed on the lawn and she stumbled out of it. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"How many people are coming?" Ginny asked them later that day in the common room as they underwent their first, and final, practice session for the big concert. Ellie had offered to take Ginny on her first-ever tour of Hogwarts, but the twins had insisted that there was no time for all that.
"Not many," said George. "Lee; Harry and Ron; Katie Bell. Oh, and, of course, Ellie's boyf—I mean, Oliver…"
Fred and Ellie both rolled their eyes at George's apparently swift recovery from having a problem with Oliver and Ellie's flirtation.
"Are we sure we don't want to throw El on vocals for at least one song?" asked Ginny, frowning, as she scanned the set list. "Fred's voice is good, but do we want to establish ourselves as quite so… masculine… right off the bat?"
"Why don't we throw you on vocals?" whined Ellie.
"We've heard you sing," Fred reminded her. "That day back at the Burrow. You've got a great voice, El."
"Yeah, and Ginny, er… doesn't," George added, sticking his tongue out at his little sister.
"It's a little late to change the set list," said Fred. He leaned over Ginny's shoulder, scanning the set list. "How about Everlong, El? We could split it up—sing it together. The chorus sort of lends itself to be sung as a duo, don't you think?"
Ellie considered this thoughtfully. The Foo Fighters masterpiece had always been one of her favorites, and Fred was right—the lyrics, particularly When I sing along with you, did lend themselves to being sung by two people. Only… wasn't there something inherently romantic about the song? Would people get the wrong idea?
Enough about romance, she decided as she forced back her fears and nodded at him. I'm twelve years old, and I'm sick of worrying about it.
And they got to practicing.
Still in the midst of puberty, Ellie didn't exactly have a body to show off, but she picked out a black dress that was as "rock and roll" as she could find amongst her limited supply of clothes from home. She paired it with a pair of black-and-white checkerboard Vans. She had a feeling she might look stupid, but probably not as stupid as the twins, who were dressed in matching red plaid button-down shirts and vibrant, green jeans.
"Christmas colors," they explained innocently when they saw Ginny and Ellie's expressions.
Ginny looked a bit more like Ellie, in a plain, blue dress that made her look even sweeter and more innocent than usual. Together, they looked like quite the unusual foursome.
None of them knew much about sound checks, though, considering the amplifications were all done magically, they supposed they didn't have to worry about it. Instead, they set up their instruments on the stage where the teachers' table was usually set and practiced for a few, final moments until McGonagall stepped in to let them know she was inviting everyone in.
Aside from the teachers, of which nearly all were in attendance, and Molly and Arthur Weasley, there were only about twenty people there in total. Ellie recognized about half—Oliver, Katie, Ron, Harry, Dean, both Patil sisters, Lee, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and…
She tried not to gasp when she saw Cedric Diggory step in with a Hufflepuff girl she didn't recognize. Ellie had never met Cedric personally, but had heard of him through Katie and Angelina, who often gushed about him being quite the talented Seeker—not to mention, ridiculously good-looking. There were few people who could hold a torch to Oliver Wood, but Cedric Diggory did that and more.
Ellie glanced at Ginny and was amused to find that her eyes were on one person only—Harry.
"Whenever you two are done ogling the boys in the audience," George snapped at them under his breath.
Ellie grinned, then raised her wand to Fred's throat, said "Sonorus," and nodded at him to start.
"Oi," Fred greeted the audience awkwardly. "Sorry to all of you that you have nothing better do to on this fine Christmas evening than listen to a band of amateurs attempt to make sweet music for you."
McGonagall cleared her throat pointedly.
"Right—sorry." Fred grinned sheepishly. "We're the Weasleys—not to be confused with the family, since the likes of Percy will never be included in this band—" this time, Molly and Arthur shot him a look "—and we hope you enjoy the show."
And with that, they dove into their first song—You Really Got Me by the Kinks.
It was a great crowd-pleaser, and the kind of song that even sounded good when played by amateurs. Fred's voice was surprisingly similar to that of Ray Davies', and George did an impressive job of keeping the beat. Before long, everyone in the crowd except the Slytherins were clapping and dancing along.
They played three more songs—Twist and Shout by the Beatles, Don't Worry Baby by the Beach Boys, and Black Dog by Led Zeppelin—until stepping off the quick stage for what Fred announced was an "intermission."
"I don't think most rock bands take intermissions," Ellie informed him as they stepped off the stage and toward the eager crowd. "At least, muggle ones don't."
"Nor do wizard ones," agreed Ginny, laughing. "But it's okay. Mum and Dad look a bit horrified—I'd better make sure they're okay."
Ellie started to follow Ginny toward Molly and Arthur, too, eager to thank them for letting Ginny come out for the show, but was stopped by none other than Cedric Diggory and the girl he was with.
"You guys are incredible!" Cedric exclaimed. "My dad and I listen to all that sort of music together, but it's so rare to hear it here in the magical world."
"Aren't your parents both magic?" asked the girl next to him, frowning.
"He always said Muggle music was better," Cedric said with an amiable shrug in Ellie's direction. "Anyway, I'm Cedric. This is my friend Marietta."
Ellie couldn't help but notice the way the girl's face seemed to fall when he called her his "friend," but she smiled eagerly and pretended not to notice. "Nice you meet you—I'm Ellie."
"Diggory," greeted a voice from behind Ellie as Oliver approached them. "Sorry about your loss against Ravenclaw last month."
Cedric's face fell at the reminder. "Yeah, me, too," he said glumly, then sulked dejectedly off with Marietta.
"That was mean," Ellie told Oliver with a hint of amusement as she turned to face him. "He played well in that game."
"Just not as well as Cho Chang," said Oliver cheerfully. "Anyway, enough about him. You were fantastic up there—I had no idea you had other talents."
She laughed. "You mean, besides throwing and catching a ball?"
"In midair," he added pointedly. "And, yes—besides that."
A throat cleared from a few feet behind her, and Ellie didn't have to turn to know that the twins were politely trying to coax her back toward the stage. She made a move to leave, but, to her surprise, Oliver caught her by the arm.
"Sorry," he said, not looking particularly sorry. He grinned sheepishly up at her and asked, "Will you dedicate a song to me?"
He was a good flirter—sweet, innocent, and all too charming. She wanted to grin back at him and tell him that she just might. But Fred and George were right—she was too young, and this was close to going too far.
"Ollie," she said, heaving a sigh. "I'm twelve. You know that, right?"
His expression shifted visibly into a look of guilt. "I… I know. You seem older, though. You know that, right?"
She wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that. Was it that she looked older? Was it that she spent so much time with people like him and the twins, who were older? Whatever the reason, she didn't feel she could give him an answer. So, instead, she gave him a gentle smile before turning away from him to rejoin the band.
The second half of their setlist was every bit as fun to play as the first, beginning with Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box, bridging to Oasis's She's Electric, and, finally, ending with the finale in which Ellie was expected to duet with Fred—the Foo Fighters' Everlong.
It was hard to think about the audience as she sang along with Fred. It was hard to think about Oliver Wood or even Cedric Diggory with the boy she loved most in the world right next to her, singing those poignant words with her—"And I wonder, when I sing along with you—if anything could ever feel this real forever; if anything could ever be this good again. The only thing I'll ever ask of you… you've gotta promise not to stop when I say when."
And that was when it happened—so swiftly and suddenly, none of the teachers could do anything to stop it. One minute, Draco was pulling out his wand; the next, some sort of strange, green goo was ejecting out of it, straight at them.
And then something stopped the goo before it reached them. It was about a foot from them when a tiny, white light appeared—almost like a wall. Ellie felt a tiny pang deep inside of her, and just like that, the goo was deflected and the white light disappeared entirely.
And everyone went very quiet.
Looks like Ellie finally activated that mysterious shield, doesn't it? Could be an exciting new development! And what a playlist... I don't know about you guys, but if I heard a band at my school playing those songs, I'd be pumped. (Then again, obviously they're some of my faves.) Review if you enjoyed, as always, please and thanks!
