(CoS) CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The Elephants in the Room
"We should go to McGonagall. Right?"
Ellie bit her lip. "I said the same thing, but she was so adamant against it. Said everyone would think she was crazy. Asked me to wait and see if it happened again."
"But what even is 'it?'" asked Fred, sounding panicked. "George should be here. Why aren't you telling George?"
"She didn't want me to tell anyone, Fred. She's really ashamed, I think."
"Then why did you tell me?"
"Well, because you're… you."
He stared back at her in silence for several seconds. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head, trying to piece together what, exactly, she meant by that.
Good luck with that, she thought grimly.
"You don't seem happy," he said suddenly. It was very clear that they were no longer talking about Ginny. "With Dean."
She looked away from him instinctively. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, nothing, I suppose. But it still matters. Why are you with him, El?"
"I…" She ran a hand through her hair, suddenly feeling anxious. What even gave him the right to ask this question? "I don't know, Fred. I thought it made sense, I guess. He's my age. He's got my same… experience level."
His eyes darkened. "So it's about Oliver."
"It's about… a lot of things." She couldn't say more than that; even this felt impossibly hard. "Look, Fred, none of that matters right now. I need you to tell me what to do about Ginny."
He didn't look like he was quite ready to let the Dean thing go, but, reluctantly, he did. "If you think we can give it one more strike, then I support you. Just… keep an eye on her, would you? And I'll do the same."
The next day, Oliver finally found out about Ellie and Dean.
She was in the common room with Dean and Seamus, watching them play a round of wizard's chess while secretly wishing she was on the other side of the room with Fred and George, who appeared to be having much more fun.
"Ellie," said Oliver from the stairs, coming over to her. "Glad I caught you. We're in crunch mode for the Slytherin game—and long overdue for practice with the whole team."
He was right about that much; they hadn't had a full team practice since before Ellie's birthday. Before she had the chance to answer him, though, Dean stood up and stuck his hand out to Oliver.
"I don't think we've officially met," he said. "I'm Dean."
Oliver stared down at Dean's hand as if offended by the intrusion. "Right," he said slowly as he reached for Dean's hand and shook it. He glanced at Ellie, looking vaguely amused. "And you're… Ellie's friend?"
Oh, boy.
"Little more than friends," said Dean boldly.
Oliver laughed at that—actually laughed. It was quite clear that he didn't believe it. "Sure, you are."
Dean glanced back at Ellie, suggesting plainly with his eyes that he wanted her to confirm his claim.
She sighed. No point in hiding it, she supposed; most of Gryffindor already knew. "It's true, Ollie. He's my… boyfriend." God, the word sounded strange.
Again, Oliver laughed. This time, though, it was short and dry, and followed immediately by a glare in her direction. "Ellie," he said darkly. "A word?"
Trying not to hang her head too obviously, Ellie joined Oliver in the least populous corner of the common room. She was fairly certain half of its inhabitants could still hear them and only prayed that Dean wasn't one of them.
"I don't get it," Oliver said. "What was all that about 'not being ready' and 'being too young'? Were you just not into me?"
"Ollie, no. That's not—"
"This might shock you, Ellie, but I'm a pretty tough guy. I could have handled it."
"I know that. I wasn't just making something up, Ollie."
"Then why? Why the bloody hell are you able to date that—that—that nobody and not me?"
This wasn't a good side of Oliver, but she did have some degree of sympathy for him, given their circumstances. "It wasn't just about my age, remember? It was about yours, too—not to mention, your experience level. You're out of my league, Ollie. I'm supposed to be with someone like him. At least for now."
Her words appeared to have a little too much of an effect on him; he seemed to flip a switch from angry to smug in a second flat. "For now," he repeated.
She sighed. "I'm not saying he's some sort of gateway to you, okay? Can you please wipe that smirk off your face?"
But it wasn't going anywhere. "For now," he repeated, nodding. "Come on, then, Prince. Better get to practice."
At dinner that evening, Dumbledore addressed the elephant in the room, as it were: the writing on the wall about the Chamber of Secrets. He explained to the students that Mrs. Norris wasn't dead, but only petrified, and that Professor Sprout's Mandrakes would be able to cure her when they were fully developed.
It wasn't enough, though. None of them understood what the Chamber of Secrets was, and they all wanted to.
"Excuse me, sir," said Hermione to Professor Binns the following day in History of Magic. "Do you think you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?"
Binns looked every bit as surprised as Ellie was by Hermione's boldness. "The Chamber," he repeated. "Now, really, I don't think it would be appropriate to go there… Besides, we were just discussing history—"
"Forgive me," Hermione pushed, "but sir, this is about history, is it not?"
Binns frowned, seeming to consider.
"Sir," chimed in Ellie, who wanted to know for the sake of Harry and his strange voices, if nothing else. "We have a right to know. Please."
Binns glanced from Hermione to Ellie and sighed. "Very well. It started many generations ago with the founders of Hogwarts: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. As you know, they created the Houses which we still use today."
Everyone nodded impatiently, eager for more.
"Well, what you probably don't know is that soon into the creation of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin expressed a very strong desire to stop teaching Muggle-born students. Though many Slytherins agreed with him, none of the other House leaders did, which prompted Salazar to leave Hogwarts forever. But legend has it that before he left, he built a hidden Chamber of Secrets within the school, which contained a monster that would wipe out all the non-pureblooded students at Hogwarts. It is said that only his heir would be able to control it."
Everyone burst into fits of mutterings and questions at that, most of which Binns ignored until, finally, he sputtered, "It's all folklore and hearsay—you have no reason to believe otherwise! Now, back to Ancient Charms."
But no one was listening.
That Oliver never gives up, does he? Any predictions for what's in store for Ellie for the rest of this year, at least as far as the romance goes? Love to see your thoughts in reviews, and as always, thanks for reading!
