On Saturday the twenty second of September, Ellie came down the stairs very early on. She wasn´t an early bird, but waking up early would imply that she had slept at all, which she hadn´t. The conversation with Draco, along with the new information this had brought had made her feel uneasy, something was wrong. She couldn´t tell if it was the fact that she had allowed him back into her life, or that Draco had said that Cedric had talked to him. She didn´t like the idea of her boyfriend meddling with her personal issues. She didn´t want Cedric to try to fight her own battles. If she wanted to talk to Draco she would have, she had her reasons, though they may have been confusing at times, she didn´t think she needed anyone´s help.

Ellie glared towards the Hufflepuff table, her eyes narrowed under her frowned eyebrows. She went back to all those times she had purposefully intimidated the Hufflepuffs or teased them back in the day, and now they were almost her friends. Had she lost her edge? Her mind kept coming back to the idea that she was not herself anymore. She pressed her eyes closed for a moment before she walked towards Cedric, sitting in his table. She stood behind him for a moment, waiting for him to stop his conversation so they could talk.

"Hey El, good morning" Cedric said as he turned around and held her hand lovingly.

"Good morning, can we talk, please?" El said in a murmur. She didn´t intend to cause a scene.

Not far from the Great Hall, Draco still slept on his bed. He had felt good when he had returned the night before, he felt at peace, like he had done exactly what he needed to do. He hadn´t considered how incredibly regretful he would feel in the morning. And, of course, that is exactly how he felt. The memories came back to him as he woke up, and though the sight of Ellie, and her faint essence still lingering on his clothes made him happy, he felt stupid. Yes, she had forgiven him but she knew how desperate he was. Why did he ever think taking that stupid potion was a good idea? Now she knew how pathetic he was. He closed his eyes again, in an attempt to fall asleep and be sheltered by his dreams, but there was no luck.

"How did it go, then? I saw you sneak back quite late – how was the potion?" Blaise asked as he approached his bed, sitting by the edge.

Like a fever that kept getting worse, the memories flooded his mind. He had told her he hadn´t stopped thinking about her. How could he? Why would he say that out loud? Why would he let her know that he needed her so much? She was with Cedric now, they would probably be laughing at him now, going on about how incredibly stupid Malfoy is. He could almost see them laughing, mocking him. It made him sick.

"Next time keep your stupid ideas to yourself, Zabini. I don´t know what came across me to trust a half-witted like you." Draco snarled standing up.

"What the hell Malfoy it was just as much your idea as –" Zabini said in an attempt to defend himself.

"Go cry to Parkinson, I´m sure she will be interested" he said with contempt.

He felt sick.

"No wonder Fern doesn´t want anything to do with you" Blaise said as he walked away.

Trust me, I know – he thought. She had probably only said yes because she pitied him. Because he was pathetic. How could he have fucked this up so much in a matter of a month? If only he could go back to when Ellie was his friend, not friends with that band of losers. Potter, what if she told this to Potter?

He would take everything he said back as soon as he could.

"I just don´t get why you went and talked to Draco" Elizabeth pointed out. They were sitting in the corridor that surrounded one of the gardens.

"Did he tell you?" he asked.

She couldn´t tell anyone that Draco and her were on good terms again – Draco and his stupid secrets.

"Violet is getting with a Gryffindor that heard you on the toilets …But that´s not important! I appreciate that you meant well, but I don´t need you to fight my battles" she explained.

"I didn´t mean to diminish you by talking to him. I just thought you two needed a push… I apologize"

"It´s complicated between Draco and I, you know that."

"I honestly thought I was helping you." Cedric said apologetic. He had reached for her hand, but now she wasn´t facing him. She was stood staring at the rain fall on the empty garden, her back turned on him who was sitting on one of the gaps in the stone.

"I don´t want you to do things like that without telling me. I don´t need rescuing." She said. She now had to hide her relationship with Draco to him. It was all a mess, not only she was confused by all that had changed in her life, now she had to keep secrets.

She turned to face him and posed her hand on his cheek, cupping his face.

" I know you meant well, I do" she resolved. "I´m sorry, I don´t mean to make this a bigger deal than it is"

"Hey, don´t apologize for being upset" Cedric said softly and grabbed Elizabeth´s hand from his cheek to give it a kiss. He really did love her, he was so certain of it. "You didn´t like something I did. I apologize."

"Thank you"

"Come here"

Ellie wished it was always that easy. She explained what bothered her, he apologized, and they hugged. And there were no tears, no sleepless night wondering where she had gone wrong.

Soon the Tournament would begin and maybe she could distract herself with the students from other schools and the challenges. She and Violet had been gushing for the past few days about the Yule Ball, as well, and were looking forward to finding beautiful dresses and having a date. She would go with Cedric, she was sure of it, which was odd because in any other moment in time Draco would be her date.

She imagined Draco, knocking on her dorm´s room, dressed in a black tuxedo. His blonde hair brushed back, and the few drops of his perfume invading the room. She could almost feel his hand posing on her low back – she pictured how good they would look together. And for a second she imagined the arms holding her were his. If only he made it easier.

Next post will be on Friday the 30th of October. I´m taking a small hiatus for uni work, but normal posts will be back to normal after this! You can follow me on twitter threeam13 for updates and sneek peeks :)

Thank you for reading !