One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship,
Is to understand and to be understood
Monday, October 23, 1972
Library corridor, first-floor, Training Grounds Tower, Hogwarts
Ellie sighed, biting her quill. The Defense Against The Dark Arts book laying on top of the table, a piece of eight feet parchment lying next to it. She had been at the Hogwarts Library together with Lily and Christina for the last hour. Professor Emlin had assigned a group project in which they had to do a presentation. They got to choose out of 5 different creatures which included Cornish pixies, yetis, fire crabs, imps and gargoyles.
Lily, Christina and her choose Pixies. Her eyes scanned the words in front of her, "A Pixie is a small, bright blue mischief-maker, and loves tricks and practical jokes. It is able to fly, and enjoys lifting people up by their ears and depositing them on the tops of trees and buildings, showing incredible strength for creatures of their size."
"I'm already glad that we didn't get gargoyles. Pixies are actually quite interesting." Christina spoke, "You can find a lot of information about them." Her blue eyes scanned the pages in front of her. "What did the boys get?"
Lily eyed her friend and stopped summarizing for a minute, "Peter, Alice and Marlene got Imps. Sirius and James yetis."
"Wait, Remus is included in the group, right?" Christina questioned.
"I guess so, I'm sure the guys kept a spot for him." Remus has been sick another time. It had been since last night that Eleonore had seen his pale face. He had tiredly wished her a goodnight. She actually told him to go and catch some sleep but somehow he stuck around in the common room, sitting in front of the fireplace by himself. Lily continued, "Anyways, I read somewhere that a woman named Dymphna Furmage got abducted by them."
"Let me just search for her name. Maybe we can use the information." Ellie spoke, eagerly turning some pages in the massive book laying in front of her. Eleonore couldn't really concentrate, her mind kept wondering off to her friend and his monthly migraines. She finally found the name Dymphna Furmage and read the paragraph. "Dymphna Furmage was born in 1612. Sometime in the mid to late seventeenth century, Furmage went on holiday to Cornwall, in southwest England. There, she was the victim of an abduction by Pixies, a species of pesky beast endemic to the region. As a result Ms. Furmage developed a mortal dread of them for the rest of her life. Later, and most assuredly fuelled by her fear of the Pixies, she strongly campaigned for the Ministry of Magic to humanely destroy all of the species. This however, just as the Werewolf Registry and Werewolf Capture Unit in Beast Division, was a failure. Dymphna Furmage passed awa-"
Werewolf registry.
Her eyes shot back at the word in the middle of the paragraph.
"Ellie?" Tina questioned, looking at her friend in concern.
"Huh? What?" Eleonore shook her head, her eyes leaving the book to look at her two friends.
"When did she pass away?" Lily questioned, her quill ready in hand to write down the information.
Ellie's green eyes scanned the page in front of her once again. "1698. " She mumbled. "Would you guys mind if we continued this tomorrow? I'm getting really tired."
"Now that you mention it, we have been sitting here for the past hour." Christina sighed, putting down her quill.
"You look pale, Ellie. Are you alright?" The red head looked in concern at her friend.
"I'm fine. I think I should just go to bed early. I'll see you guys in the dorms, alright?" Ellie spoke, not eyeing her friends and shoving her book in her back along with the parchment and the quills. She strapped it onto her shoulder.
"What about dinner?" Christina questioned.
"Not hungry." Ellie shouted behind her back, hurriedly leaving her two friends sitting in the library with confused expression.
"What's up with her?" The blonde wondered looking at Ellie's best friend.
"I have no idea. She was fine until two minutes ago. Oh! Maybe! You know..." Lily's eyes turned down towards her stomach. "Time of the month."
Christina nodded her head in understanding. "That sucks. Dinner?"
"Yep." Lily spoke, pushing her own books in her bag.
Meanwhile Ellie ran towards the Gryffindor tower, not stopping for anybody. Her legs seemed to have a mind of their own as she ran up the stairs. "Petalouda." She spoke towards the Fat Lady who immediately opened her portrait. She finally entered the common room to see the boys sitting in front of the fireplace.
Remus was there.
Right now, she couldn't deal with it. She ignored the group. Ellie heard James speak to her, "Hey Ellie!"
"Not now, Potter." She shouted, making her way towards the girl's dorms in a hurry. She closed the door behind her, entering the bedrooms. Thankfully nobody was in there. She wrapped her hands around the Defense Against The Dark Arts book, throwing it on her bed. Plunging herself onto the matrass, she waved her wands to close to curtains around her.
She opened the book once again, finding the register at the back. Her fingers touched the "W" part, slowly sinking down. When she finally found what she searched for, she turned to page 412.
Her eyes immediately scanned the old picture of the werewolf, swallowing roughly. "A werewolf is a human being who, upon the complete rising of the full moon, becomes a fearsome and deadly near-wolf. This condition is caused by infection with lycanthropy, also known as werewolfry."
She immediately turned her eyes towards the transformation part, "The monthly transformation of a werewolf is extremely painful if untreated and is usually preceded and succeeded by a few days of pallor and ill health. While in his or her wolfish form, the werewolf loses entirely its human sense of right or wrong. However, it is incorrect to state that they suffer from a permanent loss of moral sense. While human, the werewolf may be as good or kind as the next person."
"Monthly transformation. Pallor. Ill health." Ellie mumbled to herself. "Full moon."
"Werewolves can be easily distinguished from regular wolves by their shorter snout, more human-like eyes, the tufted tail, and their mindless hunting of humans whilst in wolf form. At all other times, they appear as normal humans, although they will age prematurely, and will gain a pallor as the moon approaches and then wanes."
"Holy shit. Holy shit." Ellie couldn't help but curse and freak out.
No.
No.
How was this possible?
How didn't she see this earlier?
Poor Remus.
A pang of guilt and regret filled her as her eyes stared at the picture laying in front of her. She swallowed roughly as her eyes watered, trying not to cry. Her hand wiped away the one solo tear in eagerness.
She understood now.
His pale features, his insecurities, every time he seemed to flinch when she touched him, the bags underneath his eyes, his absence in class.
She shut down her book in eagerness, putting it next to her bed. She had to act normal. She didn't know for certain, this could be something she just got into her head, maybe he did have migraines. She needed to know when the next full moon would be. He was absent yesterday, which was October 22. The next full moon would be a month later. It had to be around November 20/21.
She had to know for certain.
Tuesday, October 24, 1972
Greenhouse Two, Herbology Greenhouses, Grounds, Hogwarts
Professor Beery stood in front of the class wearing his usual robes. His dragon hide gloves were covered in dirt as he stared at his second year students. "As I have told you before, these mandrakes hit adolescence, it is very important that you keep your ears covered when you repot them. They will not be able to kill you, but they can knock you out a couple of minutes, indeed."
Ellie bit her lip, eyeing the plant in front of her. It didn't seem different than any other vegetation she had seen. Lily stood next to her, she seemed a little nervous as well. Her eyes scanned through the greenhouse, looking at her classmates. She couldn't help but crook her head at Remus laughing at something Sirius said.
Her eyes widened and immediately unlocked with his when he noticed her staring. Turning her attention back towards, the plant in front of her , she swallowed.
"Ellie!" Lily nudged her elbow. "Put the earmuffs on!"
Ellie came back to earth, noticing how everybody was staring at her. Professor Beery raised his eyebrow at his student, "Miss Darensbourg, if you can't seem to focus on this lesson, I would prefer it if you stepped out of the class and caught some sleep instead."
The Slytherins snickered as Ellie shook her head fiercely, "I apologize, professor. I promise I'll pay attention now." She ignored Lily's concerned stare as she placed the earmuffs upon her ears. Securing them a second time, she stared at the professor pulling out his mandrake. Her eyes widened at the plant who looked amazingly looked like a little baby with a leafing head.
Eleonore watched how the professor put the mandrake in a new pot, immediately throwing dirt in there. The mandrake seemed to like this, stopping it screams when the dirt finally reached the edge of the pot. Professor Beery took of his earmuffs, giving the class permission to do the same. "As you can see, they're not the prettiest creatures out there. Don't put your fingers near their mouths either because they will bite."
"Are you alright?" Lily mumbled, eyeing her friend. "You seem out of it."
"I'm fine, Lily. Just didn't sleep well."
The red head nodded her head, turning her attention back towards her mandrake. Ellie pushed the earmuffs on her head, watching how everybody else did so as well. When she noticed that the whole class had them on and professor Beery gave permission to repot, she pulled her mandrake out of the pot, placing it in a new one.
Hers was chubbier than Lily's and she couldn't help but roll her eyes when she saw Sirius push his mandrake closer to James his as if they were cuddling. She threw her head back in laughter when the boys realized their mandrakes weren't cuddling but fighting and they couldn't untangle them. She felt someone stare at her and her eyes turned towards the familiar green eyes she had seen so many times before.
Remus looked at Eleonore in concern. It wasn't her usual behavior to not pay attention in this class. It wasn't as if this was History of Magic. She gave him a reassuring smile, telling him quietly everything was okay. Her eyes adverted back towards her own mandrake, which now seemed to quiet down as she added the dirt.
When the pot was finally full, she pressed her fingers around its roots to steady it. She knew she couldn't take off her earmuffs just yet because Professor Beery was still trying to untangle James Potter and Sirius Black their mandrakes with an annoying glance upon his face.
She nudged Christina's elbow to point the fight out as the two girls continued to snicker. It took Professor Beery another fifteen minutes to finally release the two mandrakes without any injuries. Finally, he threw off his earmuffs. "Each five points from Gryffindor for your childish behavior, mister Potter and mister Black."
"But sir, they looked like they could use a cuddle." Sirius argued, trying to not burst out laughing.
Ellie could hear Lily annoyingly huff beside her but she couldn't help but laugh herself. "Even a mandrake needs a cuddle." James pointed out. "If so, I think we should actually GET points for emphathizing with these fascinating plants. "
The professor looked at the teenagers with a none impressed expression. "I suggest if you don't want to lose more points, you stop the cuddling talk and pay attention."
Eleonore snickered when James and Sirius just innocently smiled at the professor, keeping their mouths shut. "The mandrakes have been used in the past in surgeries, an overdose if so, can be fatal. It contains hyoscyamine, scopolamine, and mandragorin." Professor Beery continued, ignoring the teenagers.
One hour later, the students marched towards the castle, leaving the greenhouses behind them. "Come on, Ellie, I know you thought it was funny." James grinned, strolling next to Eleonore, ignoring the way Lily was shooting him a death glare. "I saw you laughing."
"Fine, I have to admit, I laughed." Ellie replied, holding back a grin and stepping back into the main hall.
"Evans, did you laugh?" James turned his attention towards Ellie's best friend.
"If you are interested, I thought it was a very foolish move. You are playing with creatures that have killed people in the past. It was very immature." Lily snapped back.
"You didn't think the mandrakes needed a cuddle?" Sirius grinned, pushing his head in between the two girls and throwing his arms around both their shoulders.
"Don't touch us, Black." Ellie spoke, pushing his arm off her shoulder. "The mandrakes might need a cuddle but we don't."
"That's a shame, I have cuddles for everyone! Remus, do you need a cuddle?" Sirius grinned, turning towards his friend and opening his arms in expectation.
"Yeah, no thanks."
Ellie couldn't help but laugh when Remus scrunched up his nose, looking at Sirius. Sirius seemed to take Remus his denial more personal than he did with the girls. "Come on, we cuddle all the time!"
"You do?" Ellie couldn't help but laugh, stepping onto the stairs to get to the first floor.
"We don't."
"You are sincerely stepping onto my feelings, Remus Lupin." For once Ellie was glad that Sirius Black was around, he had a way of making Remus smile.
Monday, November 20, 1972
Gryffindor Common Room, Gryffindor Tower, Hogwarts
Ellie bit her lip, staring at the fire in front of her. The past month had gone quite rapidly, her suspicions about Remus being a werewolf getting more severe. She had noticed that he didn't have any headaches whatsoever and he actually looked quite well. It was just these past days that he seemed to have gotten more pale.
Her concerned eyes adverted towards her friend once again, he seemed to look outside in anticipation every ten minutes. If her suspicions were right, Remus probably would miss the first half of class tomorrow.
She had considered asking Albus Dumbledore for more information about it. She rehearsed a speech, asking an explanation. Then she realized, what if Dumbledore didn't actually know about his condition? She didn't want to betray her friend.
Her parents always told her the headmaster knew everything. There was no way he wouldn't notice Remus his absence and a werewolf roaming the grounds every month. Oh god, where did Remus go? He had to be all alone.
A pang of regret shot through her veins as she bit her cheek, staring at the table in front of her. "Are you alright, Ellie? You seem out of it this past month." Lily questioned once again.
Eleonore loved Lily to death but there was no way she would let her in on her suspicions. Lily seemed to think more with her mind instead of her heart. She would make Ellie go to Dumbledore and there was no way she would be disloyal to Remus.
"I'm alright." Ellie smiled. "No need to worry."
Lily slowly nodded her head at her friend, not really believing her. "I'm off to bed."
Eleonore nodded her head, "Goodnight, Lils."
"Goodnight. Goodnight, Remus."
The boy smiled at the red head, nodding his head with tired eyes. "Sleeptight, Lily."
Ellie's eyes locked to Remus' his once again. They were alone in the common room. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Do you trust me, Remus?" She wondered in a small voice, looking at him with uncertainness.
Confusion took over his features, "Ellie, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing." She mumbled, staring at her fingers. She couldn't bluntly ask him, someone could be standing at the staircase, listening along. "I just- I just, I trust you Remus." He slowly nodded his head, still not comprehending her odd behavior. "I want you to be safe." She pushed her right hand over his, slightly squeezing it.
"I am… Safe?" The boy replied, his cheeks reddening at the warmth of her hand on top of his.
"Good. Good." Ellie shook her head, "I'm off too. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" She sadly smiled.
"Okay. Sleeptight, Ellie." The boy nodded his head, feeling the release of her hand immediately.
Ellie managed to walk out of the common room and into the stairway of the dorms with her head held high. When she was out of view, she turned around and sat down at the staircase, staring straight ahead for a minute. Somehow, in the debts of her core, she knew Remus wouldn't step onto the dorm's stairway tonight.
Her gut feeling was right when she heard the portrait open in the common room. Swallowing the lump, she stared at the ceiling for another ten seconds before grasping her wand and standing up. She entered the common room once again, eyeing the vacant seat where Remus just sat. She took a deep breath as she climbed through the portrait. She knew she shouldn't be out in the hallways after curfew.
Following the noise, she carefully descended the Gryffindor tower into the main hall. She heard his familiar footsteps making their way towards the first floor to what seemed the hospital wing. Her back edged against the cold stone wall, trying to steady her breath as quietly as possible. Remus was talking to Madam Pomfrey.
"Are you ready, my boy?" Ellie heard the nurse speak.
She didn't hear Remus reply but when the hospital doors opened, she turned into another commodore and wherever they were going, hopefully would not be on her path. A pang of relieve edged off her shoulders when she noticed them descending down the stairs and into the main hall once again. She swallowed roughly when she could see the main doors opening towards the Hogwarts grounds.
Her eyes scanned the commodore, still noticing that she was alone by the now deafening silence. She immediately turned around to look through the window. Two bodies made their way towards the Whomping Willow, Eleonore recognized Madam Pomfrey and Remus. She watched how the nurse raised her wand and cast a spell, stilling the tree. Her eyes widened when she saw the both of them disappearing.
"I see it didn't take you very long to found out." She heard an amused voice speak behind her.
Ellie turned around instantaneously, her wand raised. When she noticed the twinkling blue eyes of Hogwarts' headmaster, she lowered it. "You knew?"
"Of Mister Lupin's condition? Of course." Ellie nodded her head slowly, finally registering that her friend was a werewolf. "I assume you have a lot of questions."
"Will he be alright?" Eleonore immediately questioned, an expression of concern upon her face.
Albus Dumbledore couldn't help but smile. It seemed as if Mister Lupin had a good set of friends after all. "Mister Lupin is used to the transfigurations, none the less they are very painful. He has always faced them on his own. I think it is good that a trustable friend knows of his condition. He can use the support when he wakes up."
Eleonore nodded her head in understanding.
"Mister Lupin should be back in the hospital wing around eight o'clock." Before turning around, Albus Dumbledore looked at the second year one more time. "Please try to catch some sleep. It is useless to wait around. He needs a rested friend. Use the Transfiguration Commodore to get back to your dorm if you don't want to get caught, Miss Darensbourg."
Ellie didn't have time to reply because the headmaster had turned around and marched out of the hospital tower, his robes floating behind him in an impressive matter. She immediately reacted, her feet making their way towards the Gryffindor tower to get some sleep, although she knew she probably wouldn't catch any.
Tuesday, November 21, 1972
Hospital Wing, Hospital Tower, Hogwarts
Ellie sat in one of the chairs next to a hospital bed. Her fingers drumming on her skirt impatiently. She didn't catch one minute of sleep. All these questions kept floating through her mind. Was Remus okay? The scars he had, were they from the transfiguration? When did he become a werewolf? Was that the reason why he was so shy? Why did he keep this a secret from her? Didn't he know he could trust her? Was that the reason he always seem to flinch when she touched him?
She remembered staring out of the window in the dormitory at the moonrise, thinking about the excruciating pain Remus was going through at that exact moment. Her heart literally shattered in a million pieces. Did the boys even know?
She didn't think they did, they always seemed to talk about his headaches, not thinking twice about his absence every month. They didn't link it with the full moon. Her thought immediately stopped when she noticed Albus Dumbledore entering the hospital wing with the limb body of her friend.
"Oh merlin." She whispered, trying to stop her eyes from watering.
"Miss Darensbourg, he should wake up in the next half hour." Albus spoke, eyeing the girl who looked at her friend with concern. "I have informed Madam Pomfrey of your knowledge. I hope this shall stay between Remus and you."
"Of course, professor." Ellie replied, her eyes still not leaving Remus his scarred face. She didn't notice the headmaster leaving the two. No, she wasn't going to cry. She knew he hated pity. Her hand carefully covered his as she sat back in her chair, closing her eyes for a minute. He was safe now, that was the most important thing.
Remus woke up with sore muscles, groaning at the light entering the hospital wing. As usual, he could not remember what happened when he was the wolf. The only thing he remembered was the pain of his bones popping out of place, his spine bending in an abnormal position. He let out a steady breath, he didn't have to go through it again for another month.
Wanting to scratch his nose, Remus lifted his right hand, his eyes widening at a certain heaviness. Finally registering the sleeping form of Eleonore, panic shot through his body. What was she doing here? No. No. No. This could not be happening.
How long had she been here?
As if she heard his freaking thoughts, Ellie opened her eyes to stare at the dark green ones of her friend. "Remus." She whispered, her hand not lifting one inch off of his.
"Ellie, what are you doing here?" He frantically spoke, hoping that Madam Pomfrey was around to explain.
"Remus. Calm down." She spoke with a gentle voice, hoping to soothe him.
"Ellie, I can explain, these headaches-"
"I know. I know you don't have headaches. I know. I just want to be there for you, Remus. I won't tell a soul, I promise. How are you feeling?" Ellie questioned, straightening her legs to walk over the bed.
"I- I don't know. I just- How?" He stuttered, still looking horrified.
"I had my suspicions. I've been having them for a month." Ellie explained. "I followed you last night, I'm sorry for that." The brunette blushed, looking at her fingers still laying on top of his hand.
"You're not… Freaked out? Outraged?" Remus questioned, still not looking his friend in the eye.
"I don't see why I should. You're still Remus." The girl smiled, squeezing his hand. "You're still my friend."
His eyes stared at her with wonder, not believing her words. This was the first time someone knew of his condition and didn't look at him differently. "I-I just." He noticed her kind smile. "I- Thank you, Ellie."
"Just sleep, Remus, I'll cover your classes for today."
He didn't know why he felt relive taking over his body. He honestly didn't know why he ever doubted her in the first place. Ellie had always been supportive of him, just like he had been of her. "E-Ellie, the guys- they don't know."
"Your secret's safe with me, Remus. I promise you, I won't tell a soul." She smiled, her kind eyes looking at his tired face. "Sleep now. You're safe. You're not alone anymore."
He couldn't help but nod his head, his cheeks heating up when he noticed she still hadn't let go of his hand. It was as if those were the only words he had to hear to catch sleep.
He wasn't alone anymore.
Tuesday, November 21, 1972
Transfiguration Classroom, First Floor, Hogwarts
Eleonore ran towards the first floor in a hurry, she was late already. Her hand knocked on the Transfiguration classroom door and it opened by itself. The whole class turned around, looking at Ellie entering the room in a hurry. "Miss Darensbourg, we're at page 412 for the formula of turning white rabbits into slippers." Professor McGonagall spoke, eyeing the young girl over her glasses.
Ellie locked eyes with her professor and instantly knew she had spoken to the headmaster. She nodded her head, seating herself next to Marlene. "You weren't in bed when we woke up." Marlene whispered in the Gryffindor's ear. "Where were you? We were concerned."
"Miss McKinnon, not that it is anyone's concern but I asked Miss Darensbourg to meet me before breakfast to help me with these rabbits so I let her have a late breakfast. This is not the time to chitchat, turn to page 412 Miss Darensbourg." Professor McGonagall spoke.
Eleonore nodded her head, opening her book eagerly. "Try the formula first and we will discuss. We will work with a New Zealand White Rabbit. They average to 5 kilograms. Its height can reach up to 25 centimeters. Again with this information you should be able to form the formula. We will deliberate in fifteen minutes."
Ellie immediately started counting. It didn't take her long to find the rabbit's viciousness. They only thing she had to do was turn the 25 centimeters in inches and the weight into pounds. After five minutes she had her result, 984. She put her pencil down, staring at the front of the class.
She had to make sure she had extra notes for Remus. She took another empty parchment, ignoring the way the girls were looking at her. Every now and then she copied everything Professor McGonagall said. In the end perfectly transfiguring the rabbit into slippers and vice versa. When the class was finally finished and they had to go to potions, she did the same.
Professor Slughorn was his usual self, one eye on the class, the other on a book in his hands. Ellie wondered why the class hadn't burned down in the past because the man couldn't seem to care less about them. She honestly didn't really like the subject anyways but Lily was quite good at it so she just went along with it.
She did not have the patience nor the detailing to calmly take her time and cut every ingredient like it said in the book. It was annoying and time-consuming. She wanted to do other things, things that would help her in a future battle. She really wanted to make a difference. She wanted to see the fight with her own eyes, feeling the adrenaline rush when she'd cast a spell or a hex.
It was the first time she realized she did not want to be a healer anymore.
She wanted to be in the battle, she wanted to fight when it came down to it.
Her parents would lose their minds.
Saturday, November 25, 1972
Great Hall, Hogwarts
"I'm so glad the group project for defense went well on Thursday." Lily spoke, grabbing her cup of pumpkin juice. "I think the professor really liked our input."
Eleonore nodded her head, putting a small amount of sugar in her tea. "I think we'll have some nice grades for it."
"So what do you want to do today?" Lily spoke, turning towards Ellie with interest.
"I actually need to revise transfiguration and potions with Remus this afternoon. We met up at the library at ten." Ellie mumbled, still a little tired. "I should be free in the afternoon."
The red hair crooked her eyebrow at her friend. "What is going on between Remus and you? You've been quite close these past days."
"What do you mean 'what's going on between you two'? He's my friend, he's been sick so I'm helping him." Ellie answered, her bad morning attitude coming through a little.
"I'm just saying you're quite close with him." Lily spoke carefully.
"I've always been close to Remus."
"But not like this." The red head turned her closer to Eleonore and spoke in a hushed voice. "Do you like Remus?"
"Of course I do, else he wouldn't be my friend." Eleonore answered, being a smartass. "Want to meet up here at lunch? Say around 12.30?"
"Ellie! You know what I mean."
"Great! 12.30 it is. See you then, Lils. Love you!" She took the last sip of her tea and stood up, leaving the red head to look at her friend with an amused expression.
Ellie's legs carried her towards the first floor into the library. Her eyes immediately lit up when she noticed Remus already sitting at their usual table at the back of the archive. "Hi." She whispered, watching how the boy smiled at her as she took out the chair in front of him and sat herself down on it.
"Hey." Remus replied, putting down his quill for a moment.
"These are the notes I copied for you." Ellie pulled out the parchments out of her bag. "Sorry I couldn't help you with them last night. Peter wanted me to go through the transfiguration homework and then the girls wanted to hang out."
"It's fine, Ellie. Thank you for these." He appreciably smiled at her.
"Are you feeling better now?" The dark haired girl eyed the library, making sure no one actually listened.
"I'm okay." He nervously swallowed, adverting his eyes a little from her concerned stare.
"Good." Eleonore nodded her head, she could understand that he didn't really want to talk about it yet. This was not as if they were discussing what they had for dinner last night so she decided to drop the subject for now. "Let us practice the formula first, then we can move on to potions."
"I- I think the boys are suspecting something." Remus mumbled underneath his breath, eyeing the vacant library. He wanted her advice on what he should do with it. He didn't like lying to his dorm mates.
Ellie stared into his green eyes, trying not to look at him with pity. She knew he hated that. "Would you want them to know?"
"No! I finally have some frie-"
"Remus, they will still be your friends." She whispered, shaking her head. Did he really think this low about himself? "If you think for one moment they would drop you... You know I don't particularly enjoy Potter and Black's company but I cannot fault their friendship with you. They would never, ever drop you. I know that. Just like I would never drop you."
Remus swallowed roughly, still not understanding how she could be do kind. "You don't think of me differently?"
"Why would I think of you differently?" Ellie whispered back, leaning her head closer so no one would hear.
"I'm disgusting." He simply stated as if he had told it himself for nearly the past thirteen years.
"I don't ever want to hear you say that again." Ellie raised her voice at him, not backing down. "You're wonderful. You are a good friend, you are kind, you are loyal and you have great hair. If you hear say that again, I will actually hex you and you know I can throw a nasty one out there."
Remus couldn't help but chuckle sadly, "I know that."
"Do I think you should just throw it out there? No. Definitely not. Do I think you should tell James, Sirius and Peter? Yes I do but only when you're comfortable enough of doing it. Not because I said so." Eleonore whispered again, looking into his green eyes.
He seemed to consider her answer, nodding his head slowly.
"They're not going to drop you and if they actually do, which I know they won't, I will make sure it's the last thing they do."
"Merlin, Ellie." Remus mumbled, trying to hide the grin off his face. Eleonore couldn't help but grin back at him, knowing at least that she made him smile. "I might try it after the Christmas break."
"You know you can always talk to me now, Remus." Her eyes scanned his face.
He gave her a grateful smile as he stared at her. She was wonderful, really. She understood him with just one look. It was hard to comprehend that one person, whom he had only known for the last year and a half, could have such an impact on him.
His heightened self-confidence, inability to join in, physical shame and the devil inside of him seemed to disappear whenever she was around. It was nice to know that he wasn't alone anymore. "I know that, Ellie and I'll be forever grateful for that."
"Now, let's turn our attention on these papers. Lily's been up my case for the past days." Ellie spoke, grabbing her chair and placing it next to Remus so she could explain things better.
"Really? Not my fault hopefully?" Remus spoke, the wolf in him smelling the flowery scent that came off her long, black hair.
"Well, a little." Ellie replied, not thinking twice, grabbing her quill and opening the transfiguration book.
"What? Why?"
"She thinks we have a little thing going on, which is absolutely nonsense if you ask me." Eleonore rolled her eyes, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "They just can't seem to see that a boy and a girl can actually be good friends. I don't know what it is, maybe it's because we're getting older but I hate this stupid gossip, maybe I'm just a little bit behind but I don- Remus, are you even listening?"
Remus stopped thinking for a moment, trying to advert his eyes from her cheekbones. A slight hint of blush covered his cheeks, "Yes, yes I'm listening."
"It doesn't matter, Lily's hormones are going over the top and she's seeing things that aren't there. Anyways, Professor McGonagall made it a little more difficult yesterday because we had to convert kilograms into pounds and centimeters into inches. It's not that hard of course, but Peter seemed to have some difficulty with it." Ellie rambled, not even looking at her classmate.
He only heard the last sentence she spoke, zooming out once again. "Peter had a difficult time?"
"Remus, Peter always has a difficult time with transfiguration, you know that. Anyways, this isn't about Peter, let's get to business. Try doing to formula. I put the data on the top." She pushed the parchment in front of Remus, who scanned his eyes over her scribbled letters.
Thankfully, he was quite good at Transfiguration so he didn't have any trouble with setting up the formula. "984?" He questioned, looking at Ellie for confirmation.
A grin immediately covered her face as she nodded her head, "Yep. I don't have a bunny with me, but Professor McGonagall said you would be able to practice it the next lesson. You already have the formula so it shouldn't take you long. Now, potions. I'm going to be honest with you, I didn't really pay THAT much attention myself. I tried to, of course, for you."
Remus couldn't help but laugh, knowing fully well that potions wasn't Eleonore's favourite subject. "Thank you."
"Being in potions, I actually realized I didn't want to become a healer, you know, when I graduate." Ellie spoke, taking out her potions notes.
"Well to become a healer, you would need a N.E.W.T. in potions."
"Exactly. That's why, I want to become an Auror." She smirked with a proud smile.
"Ellie, I think you actually need a N.E.W.T. in potions as well for that." Remus replied, trying to hold back laughter when he saw her smile fade instantly.
"What?" Her high voice questioned.
"I think if you actually want to be accepted, you have to have a minimum of five N.E.W.T.s in challenging subjects. I think they recommend Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Charms."
"Well, I'm alright with the other four." Ellie mumbled.
"It's still far in the future, let's just focus on these notes instead."
"Well, at least it still means that I can still sleep in History of Magic, right?" Hey eyes lit up at the information.
Remus chuckled, "Yes, it still means you can sleep in History of Magic."
"As long as you keep notes for me, of course." Ellie batted her eyes in a bouncy matter, grinning when Remus looked at her with a playful held back grin, shaking his head at her.
"I will keep notes for you, Ellie, no worries."
"You're the best." Eleonore grinned, slapping his upper arm next to him. He shook his head, a grin still spread upon his face. The only thing he really wanted to tell her was that she was the best, not him.
He couldn't help but beam at her when she threw her head back in a giggle, her hand covering her mouth to silence herself, when Madam Steer warningly gazed at the both of them. In that moment, Remus realized some things would never change.
Author's note: Please leave me a little review, it would be nice to know how I'm doing. I think Remus is creating an innocent crush and that's alright (although Ellie doesn't seem to notice, but Lily does). I hope you liked the way I wrote Ellie finding out about Remus his condition. It's really important for their relationship, even later on in the story. Sirius and James have been interacting more with Lily and Ellie. So I hope you see as this story continues, the relationships are getting better and some of them are slightly evolving. Sirius and Ellie are also getting closer but they're babysteps. Peter is still Peter, Ellie thinks of him as a good friend but I'm certain you will feel a little unsure about him as you read this story, which is also my purpose. Anyways, I've been a good girl, updating twice in two days?! Things are definitely getting more interesting in the story so let me know how you feel so I can continue this little novel.