Will You Write?
Truthfully, Ella didn't want to leave. Don't get her wrong, she adored summer, with its sunny days and long nights, perfect for reading on the porch as the sun sets, but she was desperately going to miss the castle that had been her home for the past year. Not to mention she was going to miss the company of her peers, since Draco would be forbidden to visit her, Hermione would be with her muggle parents, and the rest of her friends would be off doing their own activities. The only thing Ella knew for certain was that it was going to be a lonely summer, with her dad never home and Mrs. Jennings busy with taking care of the house and what not.
Ella sighed, finally finishing packing her things for the train ride home. Oh well, Ella thought to herself, Maybe I can finally start writing that novel I always wanted to do. Smiling, she knew for certain she would write this summer, just not exactly a novel. She would also read tons, but she did that anyway.
Ella plastered on a smile as she descended the stairs into the Ravenclaw common room, and sat next to fellow first-year Edward on the blue couch next to the fire place. There was no fire, as it was too hot for that, but it still provided a warm feeling in Ella's heart as she thought of the many nights she sat with her friends near here.
"Hey Ella, are you excited for break?" Edward said, smiling at her. He had bright brown eyes and an open face, which was almost always lit up with a mischievous smile. He had jet black hair and was well built with sturdy shoulders and thick arms.
"I guess so, are you?" Ella said, giggling as another first year, John, sat on Edward's lap, much to the boy's displeasure. John contrasted Edward in almost every way, from his bright green eyes and lanky structure, with shaggy blonde hair that most often feel in front of his face.
"I am going to have an awesome summer, thank you Ella." John said, clapping his hand over Edward's mouth before he could reply. "I will write to you, if you write to me. And of course, Edward would love if you wrote to him too." John said, laughing at Edward's blush. Of the pair, Edward was definitely the most reserved, while John was the boisterous jokester. Despite their obvious differences, however, the two boys were inseparable and one would often see them doing everything together, from eating to getting into trouble.
"Of course I will write to you two, just to make sure you stay out of trouble." Ella said, laughing at the two boys' antics.
"You will also write to your favorite roommate, right El?" Catherine said, exiting the room the two girls shared together. Catherine was a slight girl with dirty blonde hair, and bright green eyes, like John's. Actually, John and Catherine had were twins—fraternal of course.
"Of course Catherine and we are still on for raiding the library, right?" Ella said smiling. Maybe this summer won't be as bad as I thought.
And with that, the two girls linked arms and made their way down to the Great Hall for the last breakfast of the year. The rest of Ella's housemates followed suit, and soon the Ravenclaw table was filled with boisterous conversations of summer plans and excited remarks for the vacation.
"Have a good summer Hermione! You promise to write, right?" Ella said, hugging her friend.
"Yes, if you remember to write back!" Hermione said giggling, "And make sure you recommend some good reads, okay? I don't want my brains to rot this summer."
"With your amazing brain, I would be quite surprised if it rotted." Ella said, smiling. The smile dropped as soon as she spotted a black haired boy and a red head coming up behind Hermione, but Ella quickly hid her reaction with a yawn and then a returning smile.
"Ron and Harry, I hope you guys also have a good summer." Ella said through her fake smile. From what Draco has told her about these two, she did not like them at all. However, since she did not know them well, she might as well play nice at the current time. A concept Draco fails at, she thought, he needs to learn how to be diplomatic, even to imbeciles.
"Thanks Ella, you too!" Harry said, a little too enthusiastic for Ella's taste, but maybe she was just jaded. Ron simply nodded and smiled. Not too bright that one, is he? Hmm, but I won't judge, he is still only 11.
Ella then spotted just the person she was looking for in the crowd, and bid farewell to the golden trio. As soon as she drew closer, she could see the blatant smirk already placed upon Draco's face.
"I hope you know I take pride in the fact that you just ditched the Potter gang for my company." Draco said, taking Ella's bag from her. "I assume you are sitting with me on the train? I hope so, since that is the only way I am carrying this."
"Of course I am sitting with you on the train," Ella said, smirking back at him, "So you are stuck carrying my bag."
With that the pair began the walk to the train, falling easily in step with each other and a comfortable silence enveloping them. You should ask him. Ella thought to herself. Sighing, she resolved to ask him on the train, when no one would overhear, for Draco's sake.
The two climbed on to the train and easily found an empty compartment, which Draco promptly locked as soon as Ella sat down. In response to her raised eyebrows, he mumbled something about wanting privacy from his fellow Slytherins. He then sat down next to Ella, placing his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.
"You aren't going to take an actual nap, are you?" Ella said, with a skeptical look on her face. Draco never did well with sleep, let alone on a constantly rocking, speeding hunk of metal that they were currently seated in.
"Maybe I will, and maybe I won't. What does it matter? It will pry be the last peaceful nights' rest I will have in a while, why not take advantage of it?" Draco said in a measured tone without opening his eyes. He could feel Ella's eyes on him, but he made a point of acting like it was nothing. She only did this when she had to talk to him about something "important," and frankly Draco had too little in his stomach and too much pain in his head to deal with doing much of anything besides sleeping.
"Fine, but can I ask you something before you fall asleep?" Ella said, looking out the window instead of meeting Draco's eyes. I knew it, this doesn't sound good. Draco thought to himself.
"Sure, what is it?" Draco said as he opened his eyes. He didn't like the unsure tone of Ella's voice, and he wondered what she was holding back. He hoped he hadn't upset her lately.
"Will you write to me this summer? I would ask you to visit, but I know your father banned you from seeing me… At least can you try to keep in touch? Unless you don't want to, then I completely understand…" Ella said, trailing off. She had sadness in her voice that bothered Draco deeply, and he had never heard her be so shy around him before. Ever since they were children they had always been comfortable around each other, keeping their answers and conversations completely open and void of lies or discomfort. Somehow, Draco could feel with dismay, that was soon to change, and he could already feel the difference. Draco inhaled deeply, then let it out in the form of a sigh.
"Ella, do you seriously believe that I am going to follow my father's rules? Of course I will write to you, that is a given. And I will sneak out and visit you as often as I can. Your dad won't mind, right?" Draco said, taking Ella's face in his hands and turning her so that she was looking at him. Not waiting for an answer, he said "Now smile girl, or else I won't have a very peaceful nap."
Ella smiled, and Draco could see all of the worry leave her face. "That's better." He said, smiling and letting go of her face before placing his hands once again behind his head and closing his eyes.
"Thanks Draco." Ella said, just before he fell asleep. Draco drifted off after that, with a smile on his face and warmth in his heart.
"Mrs. Jennings, are you home?" Ella said as she walked into the too big house she had called home for the past five years. She lightly set her current book down on the couch in the sitting room and proceeded to drag her trunk up stairs to her bedroom. Disturbed when she hadn't received an answer, Ella called again: "Mrs. Jennings! Where are you?"
The nanny scurried out of her room just down the hall from Ella's at the second mention of her name, but her eyes grew huge when she saw who had been calling her. Mrs. Jennings had always been a stout woman, with long brown hair that she kept tightly braided and in a bun at all times. Her face was taunt and stern, but her eyes were kind and her laugh genuine. She had a habit of always wearing a coat, no matter the temperature, but the cloak she had around her was not one Ella ever saw her wear in the house. She was wearing her traveling cloak, and was holding the duffle bag that Ella knew she kept all of her possessions in.
"Ella! I didn't realize you would be home so soon…" Mrs. Jennings trailed off, looking everywhere but at Ella. This does not look good at all, Ella thought in dismay.
"Mrs. Jennings, what is wrong? Why are you wearing your traveling cloak and carrying your luggage? Did my father fire you?" Ella said, trying to keep the panic from her voice.
"Ella dear, your father did not fire me, I am quitting. Please don't take it personally, I just… found out some things about your father. Things that you are still too young to know about, but they disturbed me greatly, and I cannot work for a man like that. I'm so sorry, Ella dear." Mrs. Jennings said, pushing past Ella and stomping down the stairs, a stern frown set on her features.
"I got you two house elves for the housework and the cooking, and they can also keep you company if you would like." Mrs. Jennings said, quickly summoning the elves. "This is Cherry and this is Bertie. They are brother and sister, and quite faithful. I wish you the best my dear Ella. I will write to you, if you would like."
Ella tried desperately to hold back her tears as her substitute mother began to walk out of her life. "No. Do not write me. One thing I will not stand is fake affection and empathy from someone whom I used to love. No, if you cannot look past whatever my father did and decided to leave instead, then I guess you never really cared for me." Ella said, her voice cold and void of all emotion.
"Ella, it's not like that…" Mrs. Jennings began, but seeing as Ella had already turned away, she decided it wasn't worth trying to explain. "I really am sorry Ella." Those were the last words Ella would ever hear Mrs. Jennings say. As she walked out the door, she took one more look back to Ella, but the girl had already turned away and made her way back to her room.
Mrs. Jennings sighed and closed the door behind her. She made her way to the edge of the driveway, but was stopped cold by the sight of Ella's father walking up to the house.
"Where are you going Mrs. Jennings? You are not leaving, are you?" Charles Rogers said, his voice calm but cold.
"Yes Mr. Rogers, I am leaving. I cannot work for a man like you, after what I found out about your means of employment. I am sorry." She said, beginning to walk past him. She was stopped when Mr. Rogers grabbed her wrist hard.
"Ella was upset, wasn't she?" Mr. Rogers said in a harsh whisper.
"Yes, but" Mrs. Jennings began, before being cut off by a knife at her throat.
"This was a bad choice on your part Mrs. Jennings. You have left me no choice." Mr. Rogers said, just as he drove the knife straight through her neck and watched as her head rolled away from her body. He shook his head and took out his wand. And here they thought I was a squib. Well, good thing that ritual gave me back my magic. Too bad its much more fun killing with a knife than with a wand, Mr. Rogers thought as he watched Mrs. Jennings's body disappear from the sidewalk. Now, I must go comfort Ella. Let's hope the hag didn't say much about my lifestyle.
And with that Mr. Rogers made his way up to the house with slow and measured steps, and smile gracing his face as he walked through the door. "Ella!" He called, closing the door behind him. Nodding at the two elves still standing where Mrs. Jennings had left them, he gave them each a pat on the head and whispered to them to start cleaning the house. Just as they popped out of sight, Ella came down the stairs.
"Father?" Ella said, wiping the tears from her face as she walked down the stairs. As soon as she saw her father she ran to him, and snuggled into his chest as he hugged her. "Father, Mrs. Jennings just quit. What are we going to do without her?"
"I'm sure we will manage Ella. We have the house elves she left, and you have your books to teach you things. See? We will be just fine, you and me." Mr. Rogers said smiling and hugging Ella. "Did she say why she quit?"
"No father, she just said she couldn't work here anymore." Ella said, deciding to leave out the part about that it was her father's actions that drove her away.
"Oh well, it is her loss. Now, how about some dinner? We can go to your favorite muggle restaurant down the street." Mr. Rogers said smiling at his daughter. Thank God that the hag had brains and didn't say anything to Ella. I don't want her to hate me just yet. We have another couple of years before that starts.
Let me know if you guys like this or not! Pretty Please with a cherry on top?