The date is the twelve of September of the prior year. Elizabeth and Draco had been hanging around the school all day. Draco could feel the brink of happiness forming in his stomach. He was at home, he had never felt like he belonged anywhere, ever, but he did right there, sitting with Ellie in the middle of the quidditch pitch, at midnight. It was a clear violation of the rules, but they didn´t care. It was freezing, and that was kind of the fun of it. They were like Bonnie and Clyde, without the crime.
"Right, Ellie, brilliant idea" Draco had said, pretending to be annoyed, but he wasn't doing a great job. "It´s freezing"
It really wasn´t that bad. But he knew his complaints would bug her.
"Shut up, Mister Grumpy" Ellie said, carefully laying her thick wool blanket on the ground so that they could sit. It had rained in the morning, and the grass was still wet. She walked behind one the stands, where she struggled to take two wooden brooms out. Draco stared at her in surprise.
"How did you manage to get those?" he asked and looked around. "How did you manage to get us in here, actually?" Ellie sat down with Draco, dropping the brooms next to them.
"Well, if you were a little nicer to people, you would find that there is something called `asking for a favour´. Oliver Woods is a great guy, actually." Ellie revealed with a smile, as she reached for an apple from the little wooden basket they had brought with them.
"And you call yourself a Slytherin?" Draco poked.
"Oh, come on, you are mean because you want to, not because you are a Slytherin!" she chuckled. "You guys are obsessed with being dark and mysterious. I can be ambitious and achieve my goals just fine without being an asshole."
"Right. How could I forget you are Miss World Peace?"
"Are you happy I got us here, or not?" Ellie said.
Draco nodded, giving in.
Ellie was aware that Draco was not a nice guy, she knew how mean he could be, and was. However, there was something that kept drawing her to him, making her unable to give up on him, no matter what. She knew him so well; it was hard to not see where he was coming from. She had learnt to differentiate the Draco he was with her, and the Draco he had to be for his reputation.
"Dare to race me?" he asked, taking her apple from her as he jumped on top of the broom.
"You dick! Come here!" she screamed following him, and jumping, as well, on the broom.
He was agile and moved lightly in the broom. The race, if you were generous enough to call it that, came down to Draco doing quick turns up and down, followed by the efforts of Ellie, who was quick to follow, but lacked experience.
"Draco Malfoy speeds off towards the goal posts, but – what´s that? Elizabeth Fern is back in possession of the Quaffle, she really is flying- " said Draco as he flew around the pitch, mocking the usual commentator, Lee Jordan. "Oh, she has lost the Quaffle, who let this woman into the team? Thank Merlin Malfoy is here to save the game…" He stopped, once he noticed Elizabeth had slowed down and seemed to be trying to catch some air.
"I´m tired, come here" Ellie complained from her broom, a few feet back.
Vulnerability among Slytherins was rare and taken very seriously whenever shown. In any other circumstance, Draco would have probably laughed at whoever it was, but that didn´t cross him mind this time, she looked like she really needed a break, and Draco didn´t want her to feel badly. Obediently, he turned back and faced her. Once they were close enough, he slowed down.
"You are a child you know that, right?" he said.
"Am I now?" she laughed. Like two cars that meet in a two-way street, the Slytherins were left facing each other in silence, with only the crickets of the nights and the sound of the air brushing the trees as a background. The playfulness had died in her lips, and the ambient had cooled down from the excitement of the play. They only had each other right there, and they were observing one another curiously, as if they had never met before. It was like the night had granted them the courage that they couldn´t muster during the day.
For a long time, Draco had denied his feelings for Ellie. He had even denied them to himself. And he knew, that at that moment, if things were clear to him it was because of the circumstances, he wasn´t thinking right. The adrenaline was rushing through his body, as if he was under the influence. But he just knew, he knew that she was really special, and that it was felt right, whenever they were together. He didn´t think about what people would think, he didn't think about his family, or his fate. He just knew, with a certainty that he had never had before. Being with Ellie, right there in that moment was exactly what he was supposed to be doing.
"Oh my god…" Ellie suddenly muttered, opening her eyes wide like she had just seen a troll.
"What?" Draco said quickly attempting to turn his body around without moving the broom.
She put her finger on top of her lips asking for silence.
"Can you hear it?" she said quietly.
"What is it? No"
"Come, lean closer"
Once he was close enough, Ellie grabbed the front of his broom and shoved it down, causing Draco, who had been taken completely by surprise, to slide down the wood and be left hanging on his broom, still floating in the air. It was quite impressive - Ellie couldn't help but notice- the ease with which he was holding onto the tiny stick. With a simple push, he could have probably gotten back onto it, as that was a usual practice on the Quidditch team. But he didn't have to prove to anyone that he could, so he stayed floating a foot (at most) above the ground.
"Oh my! Who let this woman in the game? Thank Merlin Malfoy is here to save the game…" laughed Ellie mocking Draco, teasing him, as he hung from his broom.
"You absolute-" he didn't finish his sentence. He used his free hand to quickly hold Ellie´s hand and push her over, causing her to lose balance and fall with him to the ground.
For a second, they just laughed. Anyone who walked around could have heard them. It was such a genuine laugh, Ellie wondered if she had ever heard Draco laugh like that. These small adventures were usual, Ellie liked to wander around the castle at night, and Draco would often follow her, but nothing had been as intimate or as fun, as this had.
"You had that coming" Ellie said, still laying on the ground next to Draco, both of them staring at the night´s sky.
"I was being nice, letting you do that, you know" Draco quickly said.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, it´s your birthday gift." Draco said and turned around, this time laying on his stomach with his hand holding his head, as he stared at Ellie. "Happy Birthday, Ellie" he said sweetly.
Draco had spent the entire breakfast going over that memory. He thought of that old Draco as a different person, able to be somewhat nice and have friends. The longer he spent without Ellie, the less he remembered that side of him that she brought on. The birthday girl, in question, hadn't arrived yet for breakfast. Draco was early because his father was visiting and it would be a busy day, still, he hoped he would get to see her come down.
"Happy birthday Elizabeth!" Violet screamed jumping on top of her bed, waking her up.
"Happy birthday!" Hermione said, sitting in the feet on the bed.
Ellie quickly sat up, still groggy from the sudden awakening.
"Thank you guys, good morning to you too I guess" she said and couldn´t help but be surprised by Hermione´s presence in the Slytherin dorms, it was hard to sneak anyone inside of the dorms, but Violet had perfectioned her technique after dating a Ravenclaw for a few months.
"Alright, presents!" Violet said excited, bringing out of her little drawer a green cardboard bag in which you could read the words `Happy Birthday, Elizabeth´. Ellie immediately recognized Hermione´s neat handwriting. It was cute, she thought, how they had planned this out together.
"Aw, you didn´t have to!" Ellie said as she was handed the bag.
"This is for Harry and Ron too, but we couldn´t get them in" Hermione explained.
"Yeah, and Hermione almost didn't make it, she´s such a goody two shoes" Violet joked.
The bag was heavy, first she took out a little package. She recognised the wrapping paper of one of her favourite chocolate shops in Hogsmeade. Of course, they had bought a packet of those disgusting Jelly Beans Ron liked so much. They had also gotten her a beautiful glass jar full of chocolate truffles showered in golden sprinkles that looked like little hearts and, as Hermione explained, tasted like different emotions.
Elizabeth didn't come down to have breakfast. After half an hour of looking across the table, to the door, he had been called by Snape to meet his father in his office right before the Quidditch match. He almost had to crawl up the stairs. He wasn´t in the mood. Like an alarm clock he had remembered Ellie´s birthday the moment he had woken up and it had been bugging him all day. To make matters worse, it seemed like Cedric and Elizabeth had grown very close, and he couldn´t stand it. Everyone kept saying how him and Elizabeth made a great couple, and it all seemed an elaborate scheme to hurt him.
And then, while he was walking up the stairs, he saw her. She was outside of the Slytherin dorm rooms, waiting for the stairs to line up, accompanied by Hermione and Violet. She was wearing her hair straight down and not in a braid like she used to. She had a bright smile on her face, and was staring down like she was seeing someone. Draco followed where her eyes were going and found Cedric, at the other end, waving at her. He felt a stitch, like a belt he was wearing had suddenly gotten tighter. Had she moved on? Was there anything for her to move on from? Did she ever care for him if she had so quickly forgotten about him and the friendship they had? It certainly felt like it.
Authors note:
Thank you for reading :)
New chapters are out every Friday and Sunday