If she had to define him in one word, Cedric was sweet. He had dedicated his Quidditch victory to her, after they had won Slytherin. It was ironic, that he had shyly pointed at one of the Slytherins sitting in the stands once he had won. Ellie had smiled and waved. It was like out of a movie, like one of the teenager muggle movies Ellie had seen when staying with one of the half-blood families she had spent some time with. She liked it, it was different from any kind of attention she had ever received. Cedric really liked her, she struggled to understand why from time to time, but he really did. It had been almost a week since they had been back to Hogwarts and Draco continued to ignore her. She tried to pretend like she didn't care or hadn't noticed, but she hadn´t stopped looking for him in public settings, hoping for him to look at her back, and maybe say something. It still hurt , even if he had been terrible to her, - that he suddenly was so far from her. She missed him, they had grown together. She wasn´t entirely herself without him by her side. She had seen that Lucius was wandering around the school, and felt bad for Draco. His father visiting was always a big deal, and something he didn't look forward to. `You have to stop caring about him´- she repeated herself every time he flooded her thoughts.
After the match, Dumbledore had convened a reunion in the Great Hall to talk about the Triwizard Tournament. It was still quite early, the competition wouldn´t start until a few months after but it took a lot of preparation and everyone knew the names had to be out sooner than later. As a fifth year, Ellie knew Cedric was bound to put his name out. He hadn´t mentioned it - she hadn't really asked, but she wanted to ask, just to be sure. They walked together, hand in hand, once the team was done congratulating him.
"Good game" Ellie said kissing him on the cheek.
"Thank you. Did you understand anything?" he asked. Ellie was, probably the only wizard ever not to understand how Quidditch worked, but she had never paid much attention.
"Not at all, but you looked like you knew what you were doing"
Cedric chuckled.
"Sorry I haven't been able to spend more time with you on your birthday." he apologized.
"It´s still early, we can ditch Dumbledore." She offered stopping before entering the castle
Cedric hesitated. "Actually… it´s important that I listen to this, El, sorry, but I promise the rest of the day I´m yours, okay?" he said apologetic once again. `El´? - now that was a new nickname. She understood, at the end of the day, if she could put her name down, she probably would and would want to hear the rules and whatnot.
"Of course, I get it."
Cedric kissed her cheek before they separated, each going into their own table.
As she sat down, some students wished her a happy birthday, to which she answered very excited with a smile. Ellie had always liked her birthday, it was an opportunity to be the centre of attention, plus presents, what´s there not to like?
She fell onto her usual seat at the Slytherin table, a bit bored, awaiting another of Dumbledore´s long monologues.
"Happy birthday, Fern!" Blaise said sitting across from her. Draco´s henchmen had slowly loosened up and started to treat Ellie like normal again. Even they were bored of the whole traitor drama, why couldn´t Draco give it up?
He wasn´t sitting in the table, she noticed it instantly. She didn't expect him to, either. She knew his father had come to visit him, so they were probably sat together somewhere around the room.
For some reason, and as if they didn´t have enough with the whole Harry Potter fighting `He who must not be named´ deal, the schools had decided to bring back the famous Triwizard Tournament that had been discontinued after 1792 because of its danger to students.
As expected, nothing important came out of Dumbledore´s mouth besides some more information on when the other schools would arrive, and more technicities related to the contest. Draco wasn´t paying attention in the slightest. He had been forced to sit with his father in one of the benches in the side, like a secret spy or something. The ambient was tense and cold, like it usually was at home. His father hadn´t wasted any time in letting him know about the importance of his plans for the following year. Lucius Malfoy, a known Death Eater had become essential in the past few years for the Dark Lord´s return, and it was mostly due to the closeness of his son to Harry Potter. Draco knew of this, and had always been made aware that at some point, he would have to step in and do something. It wasn´t like he had ever had a choice.
Before coming down to the Great Hall, his father, Snape and him had been talking in his studio.
"The Dark Lord has been made aware of the Triwizard Tournament, that is all I can share" Lucius had said, very righteous, and very proud of withholding information.
Although he was son of Death eaters, Draco wasn´t one, and he wasn´t trusted enough to hold essential information like the Dark Lord´s plans.
"He has many informers, but Draco, you are among the students, any information you find out, you must immediately report either to Severus, or myself" Lucius continued.
Unless a Slytherin was chosen to participate, Draco didn´t think he would find out about anything. As sad as the realization was for him, he was out of the loop. He wasn´t particularly curious, not interested in gossip. He also wasn´t very sure of what kind of information they would want. He didn´t really know anything. What the Dark Lord wanted, how he would do it, how he could help, whether if it would be a good thing or not.
Before coming to Hogwarts, Draco was completely devoted to the Dark Lord, and probably for the entire first year. However, during the second year, Ellie and him had discussed his ideas, and it had been very strange for Draco to hear a different point of view about such a focal topic for him. It would have made sense that Ellie was also a supported of `he who must not be named´. As far as Draco knew, her parents had been Death Eaters before being murdered. Ellie, however, didn´t carry that admiration.