(GoF) CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Enough

"Are you okay?" Ellie asked Cedric urgently when the task was over and the scores were announced—Harry and Krum in first place; Cedric in second; Fleur in third. She scanned Cedric's handsome face for signs of residual burns, but found none.

"Fine," he assured her with a guarded smile. She saw his gaze flicker to Harry, who was waiting nearby with Ron, Hermione, and the twins to go back to the castle with her.

"Hey," she said gently. "You did great, Ced. There's still two more tasks to catch up."

He nodded, but his jaw was tight. "That broomstick trick he did—that's the same one we did back at the Quidditch World Cup."

She shrugged a shoulder, though she had a feeling she knew where this was going. "I guess so."

"It was," he said firmly. "Was it your idea? Did you suggest it to him?"

"No," she said, finally able to get away with telling the truth for a change. "It was Fred's, actually."

That, unfortunately, only seemed to upset him further. "Fred doesn't do anything without you. You helped, didn't you?"

"Of course, I helped, Ced. Harry's one of my best friends."

"Not to mention, your ex."

Ellie did her best not to groan. "I helped you, too, didn't I?"

He nodded again, but those pretty, blue-grey eyes of his were far away. He was genuinely hurt, she could tell. She just didn't really think that hurt was fair.

"I'll catch up with you later," he said darkly, and he walked away from her.


"Forget the stupid git," Ron said cheerfully as they made their way back to the common room. He must have apologized to Harry right after the task, because the two seemed back to their usual best friend antics. "He's obviously just insecure and jealous."

"Since when were you the expert on reading subtle human emotions, Ronald?" asked Hermione, sounding half-annoyed and half-impressed.

"Ron's become very in touch with his emotions since learning how to apologize," Harry explained with a grin.

"Oh, thank God," said George emphatically. "The tween drama was giving me an ulcer."

They all cackled at that as they approached the Fat Lady and gave her the password. Ellie beamed at what she saw inside—a sea of Gryffindors cheering for Harry.

"It's nice to see you smile," Fred told her softly as their house mates ushered Harry to the middle of the room, chanting for him to open the golden egg he'd won from the dragon. "You don't do much of it these days, you know."

Her smile faded, but she took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

Before either of them could address the matter further, an ear-splitting screeching sound emerged from the egg that Harry was holding high above his head. He quickly shut it, but the damage was done; everyone in the common room was keeled over in pain, clutching their ears.

"Bloody hell!" Ron shouted once he'd taken a few steps toward recovery. "That's supposed to tell you what the second task will be?"

"There's obviously more to it than that," snapped Hermione impatiently. She glanced at Harry, frowning. "I'm not sure what, though."

"That's okay," said Harry, looking more cheerful than Ellie had seen him in quite a while. "I've got time to sort it out."


Ellie didn't see Cedric at breakfast the next day, which, in all likelihood, meant that he was still mad at her.

She didn't particularly care. She didn't regret helping Harry, and if Cedric wanted to be a prat about it, then fine.

Unfortunately, fighting with Cedric meant the piercing and threatening gaze of Aleks on her every time he saw her.

She tried to think up excuses to keep him at bay during Tranfiguration that day, but was completely thrown off when McGonagall announced to the class that a ball would be held at Christmas.

"A ball?" repeated Ron, sounding dumbfounded.

"Don't get too excited, Mr. Weasley," said McGonagall to Ron, who looked anything but. "As representatives of your school, I expect you all to be on your best behaviour. However, I will admit it is a chance to… let your hair down, so to speak."

Ellie, who nearly always wore her hair down, wasn't particularly excited by this notion. Sure, a ball might be fun under different circumstances, but this year—the year she was forced to follow Aleks' orders instead of her own heart?

She didn't want to go to a ball with Cedric. She didn't want to go anywhere with Cedric.

She just wanted to be with Fred.


"Don't go with him," Fred urged her in the common room that night when it was just the two of them. "Please."

She swallowed, feeling queasy. She'd felt Cedric's eyes on her several times in the halls that afternoon, but had pretended not to notice. Sensing that he was about ready to forgive her and ask her to the dance, she had avoided dinner. Fred, of course, had noticed.

"What choice do I have?" Ellie asked Fred reluctantly.

But he didn't look ready to accept that answer—not this time. "I was thinking—what if we convinced Dumbledore and McGonagall to let us play the ball? Y'know—The Weasleys. I've heard they're campaigning to get the Weird Sisters in, but we could probably convince them."

Ellie brightened at that, straightening in her seat. "That's not a bad idea."

"You wouldn't have to go with him that way," Fred said eagerly. "You wouldn't have time to dance with him or anything. Which is good, because the thought of watching you two dance all night is enough to make me sick."

She reached out a hand to squeeze his, smiling sympathetically. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Just say yes. Say yes, and I'll work out the rest of it."

It was one of the easiest things she'd done in weeks. "Yes."


When Ellie stepped out of the common room the next morning, she was greeted by not only Cedric, but also a giant, white banner that was floating in the air with the help of four great, white doves.

Ellie, will you go to the ball with me? was written—or, more likely, charmed—onto the banner in great, blue letters, all of which seemed to bounce with eager excitement.

From just behind Ellie, Lavender and Parvati both let out shrieks of excitement. To her left, Harry and Ron did their best to contain their sniggers; to her right, Fred and George froze in their tracks.

It was a lot easier for Ellie to hate Cedric when he was the version of himself that he'd been at the end of the first task—selfish, resentful, and jealous. This version of him—the one that was handsome and charming and truly seemed to care about her—was a lot harder to hate.

"I…" She bit her lip, not wanting to say the wrong thing—and not just because she saw Aleks watching with rapt attention from down the hall. "I thought you were mad at me."

"I was being stupid," Cedric said dismissively. "I'm sorry."

It was time for her to say something else, but she really wasn't sure what. How could she say no? How could she say yes?

"We're playing the Yule Ball," said George suddenly. All around them, heads snapped toward him. "The Weasleys. Our band."

Cedric blinked, looking confused. "Er… okay. Great."

"He means," said Ginny, emerging from the portrait hole right in the nick of time, "Ellie won't be available to be your date. She'll be busy playing."

Cedric's bright-eyed expression started to fade at that. He glanced at Ellie, looking like a wounded puppy. "But… that's not true, is it? Surely you could… I don't know… only play some of the songs?"

"She's our lead singer," said Fred sharply. "We're nothing without her."

"You've got that right," Cedric muttered.

Good, she thought grimly as she straightened. As long as he kept saying things that allowed her to hate him again, she could do this. "It wouldn't be fair to you, Ced. You're one of the Triwizard champions. You should have a real date."

"Other than you?" Cedric demanded. "Is that really what you want?"

She supposed she shouldn't have suggested that; a girlfriend who actually wanted to be with her boyfriend probably wouldn't have. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Look, I'm sorry I can't go with you. But the band is important to me, and it's a big opportunity. Don't you get that?"

"Yeah," said Cedric darkly. "I get that it's more important than me."

And with that, he walked away from her.


She only made it about twenty steps before Aleks grabbed her very forcefully by the arm and shoved her hard against the railing—right in front of everyone.

"Hey!" shouted Fred, shoving him away from her with enough force to send him stumbling. "You looking for another black eye?"

Technically Fred had punched him in the mouth, not the eye, last time. But Ellie supposed now wasn't the time to correct him.

"Guys," Ellie said to Harry, George, and the rest of the gang around them. "Give us a minute, would you?"

No one looked at all comfortable with leaving Ellie alone with the Durmstrang boy who claimed to have robbed her of her virtue that summer, but, seeing that Fred wasn't going anywhere, they all reluctantly left.

"I didn't break up with him," she told Aleks through clenched teeth. "I just said I couldn't go to the dance with him because my band is performing."

"Which isn't even true," grumbled Aleks in exasperation.

"Yet," said Fred. "It will be soon enough."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Aleks with a thin-lipped smile. "I must say, I thought you were smarter than you're acting, pretty girl. Do I really need to remind you yet again what I'll do if you don't adhere to my demands?"

"But I am adhering—"

"That boy is probably on his way to ask some other girl as we speak," said Aleks. "Now, either march up to Potter and lay a fat one on him instead, or go and win the Golden Boy back. And once you do that, you'll report swiftly back to me on exactly what their plans are regarding this golden egg business. Are we clear?"

Ellie turned her heavy gaze toward Fred at that. It was nothing new; they were both used to it at this point. Still, the pain in his eyes—the miserable assumption that she would do exactly what Aleks wanted her to yet again, and that it would break his heart yet again—hit her harder than ever.

She was tired of breaking his heart. She was tired of breaking her own.

And what about Harry and Cedric? They may not have been severely hurt in this last task, but could she really keep taking that risk?

Enough was enough.

Out loud, she said what she always did: "Clear."

Inside, though, her wheels were turning.

She was going to write to Sirius.


Finally! Do we think Sirius can find a way to end the Aleks torment? Will Ellie actually get to go to the ball with Fred, or at least play it with her band? Stay tuned to find out, and don't forget to review!