Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor
Wednesday, 10th of October, 1973
Transfiguration Class Room, First Floor, Hogwarts
"What is up with Ellie?" James mumbled, pushing his head closer to Remus when he watched her storm out of the classroom.
"Prongs, I love you but you are blind. She knows." Sirius argued, stepping into the conversation.
"What?" Remus spoke with a high voice, ignoring Professor McGonagall for the first time in his life. If Ellie knew his friends were Animagus and he had let them be with him at full moon. She would never… She would never forgive him. Everything they had built together, years of friendship and trust. He instantly realized how bad this all would look. "I need to go."
"She just told you she didn't want y-" Peter spoke.
"For once in your life, Peter, please just shut up." Remus snapped, taking his books and snapping them close. "Professor?!"
"Oh god, he's going to play the saviour." James spoke enthusiastically, "About time he stepped up the plate."
"Mister Lupin, is there a problem?" Professor McGonagall spoke, raising her eyebrows at the rushed movements of her student.
"I'm not feeling well. I need to step out of the classroom for a minute." Remus quickly spoke, ignoring everybody's odd looks. "I'm sorry, professor." He hurriedly spoke, scraping his chair over the floor, grasping his bag and pushing it over his shoulder.
Lily raised her eyebrows at Remus his unusual behaviour, she knew something was up between the two of them. There was no way Ellie stepped out of the classroom so furiously and ignored Remus his request to escort her. Something was up. "Mister Lupin!" Professor McGonagall spoke one last time, just to be answered by a door closing.
His mind was occupied by the dozen places Ellie could have taken off to. He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't go to the common room, it was too obvious. The seventh floor maybe, the guys had told him they had taken her to the room of requirement. Maybe she would be there, he just had to be certain.
Eleonore in the meantime rushed towards the astronomy tower, her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't believe him! They had been doing this behind her back for months. She remembered Petey's words, 'Remus would kill me if I told you.'
This was Remus his undoing. The boys had nothing to do with it. He made sure they didn't talk, he made sure she could not help him. She wrote dozens of letters over the Summer, asking him if he was alright, how she would be able to help him, if there was a way, that she would want to know. She told him she didn't like holding secrets from him and they had promised to never do so ever again.
'Remus likes you, Ellie. It's obvious that the boy's head over heels for you.' That's what Lily said.
'Flirt all you want, but please don't do it in front of Remus.' That's what Sirius said on the train.
The constant teasing of James Potter through the holidays. Was it all some kind of hoax to get her to lose her mind? To just maybe keep her thoughts away from this Animagus thing? Did they like playing with her feelings?
Remus never really cared. He didn't. Friends don't keep secrets. All those letters, they didn't mean shit.
"Oh god." She mumbled, her throat burning up. Was she that bad of a friend that he couldn't trust her? Was she that unreliable?
"Ellie!?" She heard a voice speak when she ran up the stairs of the astronomy tower. She could almost feel the wind blowing in her hair. She needed a fresh mind, not someone to interrupt her thoughts. "Ellie!"
Her feet kept on moving, step per step until she finally reached the top, stepping out on to the balcony to see the view. The forbidden forest was spread out in front of her and she could see a small Hagrid stepping out of it. She carefully slid down on her bottom, stretching her long, bare legs in front of her. Leaning against the tower, she could hear the voice coming closer. "Hey!"
She took a deep breath, turning her head towards the entrance. "I thought I saw you walking up here." He smiled, his kind blue eyes staring down at his team mate.
"David." Eleonore nodded her head, watching how the Quidditch Captain stepped closer.
"Do you mind if I sit next to you?" He kindly questioned, always being the gentleman.
She did mind. She wanted to be alone for now. She wanted to get her thoughts straight. "I- I just…"
"Hey! Are you alright?" The blonde Quidditch Captain sat down next to Ellie in concern. "You look troubled. Sirius again?" He assumed, knowing from the Quidditch practice how much those two could get under one's skin.
"What? No…" She shook her head, her eyes shifting uncertainly to her own feet. She could feel his worried blue eyes stare at her from her right. "This has nothing to do with Black."
"Oh." He nodded his head slowly, not wanting to pressure her. A minute of silence overtook them both as the only sound was the wind blowing in their ears. He could feel Ellie shudder next to him, "Are you cold?" Ellie heard him whisper.
"I'm fine." She softly spoke, trying to not let her teeth tremble.
"You're always so stubborn." David answered, smiling a little. "Take my overcoat. Summer's over, you know."
Eleonore could feel him taking off his coat and wrapping it around her shoulders. Not once did she turn around to look at him. She kept on staring at the view in front of her. "Thanks." Ellie whispered, feeling the warmth of his coat on her skinny arms.
"You're welcome." He softly spoke. "I did- I didn't follow you or stalk you or something." He nervously spoke, "I was here to give my divination essay to Professor Imago, kind of forgot about it last night."
"You take Divination?" Ellie questioned, turning her head towards him and noticing for the first time how close he actually sat next to her.
"I know, I know. It's a bunch of crap." He softly laughed, shaking his head. "But it's easy to make things up and get good grades. Makes me focus more on the team."
Ellie couldn't help but laugh softly, throwing her head back and looking at him with an amused small grin. "Of course you would say that."
"Well, you know me…" David grinned back, his eyes searching her face "Everything for the team."
"Yes…" She smiled back at him, shaking her head softly. "Everything for the team."
A few seconds of silence was shared when David took a deep breath, trying to avert his nervous eyes from her long hair falling gently covering her sharp cheekbones. "You… You don't take divination, I'm guessing?"
"No." Ellie shook her head, "No, Re- my friend and I, we wanted to take arithmancy."
"Difficult, I've heard." David replied.
"It's alright. It's quite interesting actually."
"Only you would think numbers are interesting." He cheekily spoke, prodding his elbow in her arm.
Ellie laughed, surprised that her mind could be occupied by the Quidditch Captain. "Not only me, a lot of people think numbers are interesting."
"I don't know." He teasingly spoke, "I don't think so."
"You're only saying that to laugh at me." She grinned, turning her upper body towards him, her shoulder leaning on the outside of the tower. "I know you by now."
"Maybe, maybe not." He grinned, the twinkle evident in his blue eyes.
"Hmm." She squinted her eyes at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I'm almost certain you do."
"Well, it's hard not to." He chuckled, trying to avert her eyes from her piercing stare. He always thought her eyes were so infiltrating, she might have been two year younger than him but she had a way of making him stutter by just one look.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ellie teasingly spoke, "Am I that laughable?"
"No! No! That's not what I meant. I'm just saying- Well-" Eleonore thought David was actually acting a little strange so she could not help but look at him in confusion. He sighed, rubbing the edge of the back of his head. "You always make me a little nervous."
"I make you nervous?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "You're my Quidditch Captain."
"I know. I know, I am but you know I can't be mad at you. You must have noticed that by now." David Hamblin explained.
"I don't think you can be mad at anyone. You're that much of a nice guy." Ellie simply shrugged. "I didn't think it had anything to do with me, honestly."
"Well, I think- Yes, I think it does have something to do with you…" He raised his eyes at her uncertainly, watching how confusion took over her features.
"I-I don- Wait, what?" Ellie shook her head, this day was getting odder by the hour.
"Look, do you- would you actually want to go to Hogsmeade with me, this weekend? Saturday? I was thinking of going with my friends but I would actually like you to come… With me… " He quickly spoke, rushing all his words.
"Hogsmeade?" Ellie answered back a little confused, "I haven't been before. I do have permission to go. But like, do you want to show me around or something?"
"You don't have a clue, do you?" David chuckled softly, finally averting his own blue eyes towards her green. "I actually… Like you and I would like to take you to Hogsmeade, as a date."
"You like me?" Eleonore whispered, her mouth slightly widening in realisation.
"Yes." He answered, "And if the feeling's not mutual, I can totally understand. I mean we're together in the team, the last thing I want is for things to get awkward. So no hard feelings if you decide to not go with me or even if you do go and you don't like it, that's fine. I can handle that. Team comes first, you know." He rambled.
"I'll- I'll go with you. Okay." Ellie nodded her head, a small smile covering her face. "I'm not going to promise anything but I'll go with you."
"That's fine- that's fine. I'm just happy that you want to go with me." He quickly nodded his head. "I should actually get to class now, I'll probably be late. I'll see you, later on, right?" He smiled, showing off his beaming with teeth.
Ellie watched how he stretched his legs, standing up straight. "I still have your jacket. Wait-" She started to unwrap the black material from her shoulders when a hand stopped her actions.
"Keep it, give it to me tonight. I'll see you in the common room- alright?"
She slowly nodded her head, a smile spread upon her face. "Okay. Thank you, David."
"You're welcome. Bye Ellie, I'm really looking forward to saturd- Oh hey, Remus! What's up?" Ellie's ears immediately peaked at his name. Just when she thought David had calmed her down, her heartbeat plunged in her throat once again.
"Nothing, I need to talk to Ellie." Ellie heard Remus his voice speak in the background. She didn't feel like talking to him right now. She didn't have the heart to. She was hurt and she felt betrayed. The only thing she wanted was to be left alone. Maybe focus on other things instead of him.
The past two years she had focused on Remus and Remus alone.
She was done with that for now. If he didn't need her, she certainly didn't need him.
"Ellie…" She heard the indeterminate tone in his voice. He was almost begging for permission to sit with her, to even talk to her.
She closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the wind instead of him, feeling it play with her hair. She pictured herself on a broom for a minute, if she wanted to she could fly away. "Ellie… I'm sorry…" She didn't open her eyes, but she could hear his voice coming closer.
"Ellie…" His hand touched her arm over David Hamblin's coat as she flinched.
"Don't touch me, Remus." She snapped, pulling back her arm.
"I know you're upset…" He softly sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hand.
"Upset?" She gently whispered with laughter in her voice, "You think I'm upset?"
"Ellie…"
"I'm not upset, Remus." She turned her head towards him, for the first time looking him straight in the eye. "I'm furious." She gnarled her teeth, her upper lip twitching. "I trusted you." She pointed at him, straightening her legs to get away from him.
"Ellie!" His hand covered her wrist, trying to stop her from descending down the Astronomy tower.
"I said; Don't. Touch. Me." She yanked her arm back.
"I deserve a chance to explain." He simply stated, looking at her with grieve in his eyes. When she didn't answer but just stared at him with a piercing glare, he had to avert his eyes towards the ground. "I-I, I just- I didn't want you there."
"You didn't want me there?" Ellie replied softly, trying to mask the hurt in her eyes but failing miserably.
"It's a boys thing." He shrugged, still not looking her in the eye.
"You came all the way up here to tell me it's a boys thing?" She shook her head, looking at him with disbelieve. "You wanted a chance to explain and that's your explanation?"
Of course that wasn't his explanation. Of course he wanted to tell her that the only reason he didn't want her there was that he was too embarrassed. He was deadly afraid that something would happen to her. His worst nightmare would be him waking up in the hospital and Madam Pomfrey telling him that he attacked her and she did not survive. That he would have killed the actual one person he liked and cared about.
She was too precious. She was his to protect. She might think the other way around, but she was still his to protect. No matter what her stubborn mind thought.
"I-I-" He stumbled over his words, trying not to dissolve underneath her unbreakable stare.
"You know what Remus-" She pointed at him. "You go do your boy thing then. I'm obviously not worth your time, nor am I important enough to even be involved in this little thing you guys got going on. It's a shame because I really cared for you and you've hurt me, really, really badly." She tried not to choke up. "And I always thought you were the only person who would never, ever hurt me."
"I'm sorry, Ellie. I am." He looked at her in desperation, hoping things would get better. Hoping she would see the reason why he didn't want her there.
"Well. I am too, Remus." She answered, "But mostly for myself."
"Ellie-"
"What?"
"Are you- are you going out with David Hamblin?" He swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to act casual.
"You know what, Remus... It's a girl's thing." She shrugged, turning her body around and not looking back twice. She tried to ignore the one tear strolling down her cheek when she descended down the Astronomy Tower.
Wednesday, 10th of October, 1973
Charms, Classroom 2E, Second Floor, Hogwarts
"Lumos Maxima is the incantation to a charm that can be used to produce a blinding flash of bright white light from the tip of the wand." Professor Flitwick pointed his wand towards the blackboard where the pronunciation, LOO-mos MAX-i-muh, was written. "This light can be thrown far off of the wand, illuminating the surrounding area for several minutes after its initial casting before darkening once more."
"Ellie, I didn't see you at lunch." Lily whispered, for once not intensely paying attention to the professor.
"I just realized a couple of things. Needed to get my head straight." Ellie mumbled back, meanwhile trying to write down everything that Professor Flitwick was saying.
"Remus looked upset." Lily stated.
"Good." Eleonore shrugged.
"Are you fighting?" The red head questioned.
"Yes." Ellie shortly replied.
"But Remus and you never fight." Lily looked confused at her neighbour.
"Apparently we do."
"But how come? I don't understand you were fine yesterday, then you ran off-" She whispered rapidly, shaking her head in confusion.
"If you open your spellbook on page 287, you will see a diagram depicting the proper casting of this spell." Professor Flitwick spoke, ignoring the two girls whispering in the back. "As you can see, to cast it, one must flick their wand, then draw it back and flick it a second time. This requires more hand skill than the normal Lumos spell so it's important to practice enough."
"I don't want to talk about it right now." Ellie whispered back, staring at page 287 in the book.
"But Ellie, you guys were such close friends. Remus likes you, I told you this before."
"He does not." Ellie sharply replied, snapping a little bit at her friend.
"Did he tell you he didn't?" Lily looked a little confused.
"Something like that." She could not explain the situation towards Lily even if she wanted to. Lily did not know of Remus his condition, she did not know that The Marauders were now Animagus and she was not. She hated lying to Lily, although she did not lie, she merely kept the truth, all in favour for Remus. Another thing she had sacrificed for him. Ellie might have not liked him right now, but she would never betray him. It was Remus his task to tell Lily, not hers.
"Are you serious?" Lily's mouth widened, staring at Ellie.
"Yes."
"Wait- who's jacket is this then?" Lily whispered, noticing the strange overcoat Ellie was wearing when she entered the classroom.
"That is an entirely different story." Ellie couldn't help but lift the corner of her mouth, remembering her conversation with a certain Quidditch Captain. At least he had managed to make her smile today.
"Tell me!" Lily poked Ellie with her wand, hoping to get some information out of her friend.
"Miss Evans, Miss Darensbourg, is there a problem?" Professor Flitwick spoke, interrupting the two girls in the back. They immediately shushed and stared at the professor in innocence.
"Not a problem, sir, no." Lily spoke, using her angel voice. Her eyes turned back to Ellie and widened, in the hope that she would understand.
Ellie quickly mouthed the word, "Hamblin" to her friend, who immediately shrieked in return.
"Miss Evans!" Professor Flitwick spoke loudly once again.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Professor. I promise I'll pay attention now." Lily quickly replied, thanking her lucky stars that she was an excellent student and Professor Flitwick would never mean her any harm. Her eyes shifted back towards the book in front of her, mouthing an "Oh my god" to the diagram and trying to ignore Ellie's rolling eyes.
Wednesday, 10th of October, 1973
Boys Dorms, Gryffindor Tower, Hogwarts
"Wait, so you searched for her when you left Transfiguration right?" James spoke, looking at his friend from his bed.
"Yes. I went to the seventh floor first." Remus sighed, staring at the ceiling. His hands were tucked behind his neck.
"Room of Requirement." Peter piped up.
"Yes." Remus mumbled, "She wasn't there."
"Where did you find her eventually?" Sirius stared at her friend. "You did, right?"
"Of course I did, I told you this before." He softly answered. "I then went to the owlery, she was not there either. Then I went to the astronomy tower."
"And she was… There?" James questioned. He knew Ellie was mad at all of them, but he also knew she was furious with Remus. He had to know what happened, he knew if Remus would have just opened up, things would have turned out differently. She might have still been upset, but she would have understood.
"Yes, and she was not alone." Remus mumbled.
"She was not?" Peter looked confused.
"David." Remus answered shortly, trying not to get angry.
"You're kidding, right? Hamblin?!" Sirius spoke up angrily, "I knew something was off with those two! The way he always stares at her at practice, it's just not right."
James raised his eyebrows at his best friend, trying to hold back some comments revolving Sirius and Ellie's friendship. "Yes, Hamblin." Remus mumbled. "He asked her to go to Hogsmeade."
"Hogsmeade?!" Sirius spoke.
"Like on a date?" James looked confused.
"This is not going to end well for the team, I'm telling you." Sirius spoke up, pointing his finger in the air. "This has bad news written all over it."
"Just, Padfoot, let's just forget about the team right now and focus on Remus." James looked oddly at Sirius, trying to shut him up for once. "What did she say? Did you actually listen to their conversation?"
"I was there by pure coincidence, okay! I couldn't stop listening. I got angry and disappointed that she said yes, I guess." Remus sighed, "I should have just told her what was up."
"Why didn't you?" James spoke, "What did you tell her?"
"I-I told her I just didn't want her around you know, that it was a boys thing."
"Oh god, you are such an idiot." Sirius shook his head. "You just made things a lot worse."
"I know that! I was just upset that she said yes to Hamblin!" Remus groaned, "How can I ever compete with David Hamblin? Have you looked at him! He's actually really nice and he's good looking. Straight grades, a great athlete! Not some scum, like I am."
"You know what Remus, you're right. David is nice. He is, and I won't say that he's ugly and he is smart-"
"Are you actually going somewhere with this or not?" Remus angrily replied to James. Full moon was around the corner and he did not have the patience.
"Of course I am! But Hamblin is not you! Ellie likes you! You have been her best friend for years, David has not! She knows you! She knows everything about you and she still thinks the sun shines out of your ass! I bet if you would have told her the real reason you didn't want her there, she would have actually listened and understood. If you told her you didn't want her there because you like her, she would have gone to Hogsmeade with you instead." James rambled. "I know Ellie. I know she would have."
"It doesn't matter anymore now. Ellie's already going with David. It's too late now." Remus mumbled.
"Try making it up with her! At least do something! Tell her you're sorry, send flowers, share your chocolate with her, tell her the real reason you don't want her to become an Animagus and for the love of merlin, tell her you LIKE HER." James explained.
"You almost make it sounds like it's easy." The werewolf mumbled.
"It's easy! It is!" James answered quickly.
"Sometimes I don't think this actually is about Ellie." Sirius mumbled, looking at his indeterminate friend.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Remus replied angrily.
"I think you need to work on yourself first. You always think you're the worst person in the world when you're not. You need to build up some confidence, Remus. Because, you know, if you were ever to get into a relationship with Darensbourg, there will always be people talking. You can't turn away at every road block. You can't jump out at every excuse, you would only hurt her." Sirius explained.
"Wait, since when do you care so much about Ellie?" Remus squinted his eyes at Sirius.
"I'm saying that if you're not willing to actually see your own worth it's not going to work. I'm saying this for you, not for her." Sirius shot back. "Like, what if you do get together, you know Hamblin likes her. She's at practice with him three times a week. Are you going to sulk every time he even looks at her? You'll need to build up some confidence."
"Look at Padfoot being all sentimental, since when did you become a relationship expert?" James teased, throwing a sock at his friend.
Sirius chuckled, shaking his head, "I'm not. I'm just saying."
"Funny." Remus spoke with a serious tone.
"What's funny?" Peter looked confused.
"Nothing, just the way Sirius always struts around Ellie, teasing her, making fun of her but then defending her behind her back." Remus spoke with challenge.
"See! That's your problem!" Sirius replied with haste. "You're already getting jealous of me and I'm the last person to get jealous of when it comes to Darensbourg!"
"Padfoot-"
"No! Just grow some balls or leave her alone. Simple. Don't go sulking about not being with her when you won't do anything about it!" Sirius spoke up, raising his voice.
"I-I" For a moment Remus didn't really know what to say.
"Look, I'm sorry man." Sirius sighed, "Just tell her, will you? Unless you want her to date Hamblin, please tell her. It can't get any worse than this."
"You think she would date David?" Remus his eyes searched through the room.
"I think Ellie doesn't like Hamblin in that way, no. But I do think there's a seed that can grow if you don't do anything about it." James spoke quietly, "He always had a soft spot for her."
"Yeah, okay." Remus nodded his head, "I'll- I'll try to make it up to her. It just sucks that full moon's already on Friday." He mumbled.
Saturday, 13th of October, 1973
Great Hall, Hogwarts
"So, are you excited?" Lily enthusiastically spoke, grabbing some sausages and pushing it on her plate. "I cannot believe you have a date with David Hamblin, do you know how many girls envy you right now? I heard Celista Silverstone, you know the fifth year Ravenclaw gossip. You are the talk of the town right now."
Ellie sighed, shuffling her eggs on her plate. "Yeah, that's great."
"What's wrong? You're supposed to be happy. Come on, you have a date with one of the hottest boys in school."
"I just- Remus is still sick." Eleonore mumbled, knowing fully well that last night was full moon and instead of being there with him at the hospital wing, like she had been the last year, she was getting ready for a date.
"Are you still fighting?" Lily questioned in concern.
"Yes."
"But I thought you were angry with him, not the other way around."
"I am angry at him, Lils. Furious but I'm also concerned, does that make me a hypocrite?" Ellie mumbled, looking at her friend.
"No- of course not." The red head shook her head. "But today, I just want you to have fun, okay? Try to forget about your argument with Remus. You have a nice guy asking you out, the weather's on your side, just try to enjoy this. The guys are there with Remus, he'll be okay."
"Yeah." Ellie muffled, "The guys are there with him. He doesn't need me."
"Remus needs you. He does. But this time, he did you wrong, not the other way around so stop feeling guilty." Lily covered Ellie's hand with hers. "He'll come to you when he's ready."
"Well he did send me that small note…" Ellie remembered the little note he had passed to her in History of Magic, telling her how she could copy every single note of him for the rest of his life if it meant that she wouldn't be angry anymore.
"It was a blackmail note. He didn't even say it to your face. No, you wait until he sends you chocolate, then you know he's seriously sorry." Lily pointed out.
Ellie sighed, letting out a small chuckle. She spotted three of the four Marauders entering the great hall. "This is my cue to go." She spoke towards Lily.
"Don't leave me alone with them." Lily ushered, widening her eyes.
"Come with me then." Ellie shrugged, not wanting to leave her friend. "We'll search for Tina and Alice, they should be around here somewhere."
"I'll come along with you, but David's probably waiting for you in the hall so I'll manage on my own from then on."
"Ellie-" James spoke, stopping the dark haired girl. She had managed to not only ignore Remus the entire week but also the rest of them.
"Don't." She simply stated.
"Come on, Ellie." James whispered, pushing his head closer to his friend so Lily would not hear. "You know we were caught in between you and Remus. We just listened to him. You can't punish us for defending our friend."
"That's strange because I didn't see you defending me and I also thought I was your friend." Ellie harshly answered.
"We did. We tried to change his mind." Sirius stepped into the conversation.
Eleonore couldn't help but chuckle, locking her green eyes with his grey ones. "It's funny, you see Black. Because I know you don't want me around, ever. It's strange coming from you, really. I might not like you but I've never seen you as the lying type."
"I'm not lying." Sirius stepped up.
"Aren't you?" Ellie crooked her head, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"One day you'll have to realize that I don't mean to cause you any harm, Darensbourg." Sirius pointed his finger in her face, their noses nearly touching. "One day."
When Ellie just stared at his face, not knowing what to actually answer, she just turned around, leaving everybody behind to search for her date.
"That was not necessary, Sirius." Lily spoke, squinting her eyes at him.
"It was and you know it was. Tell her Remus is doing fine." The grey-eyed young man spoke sternly, turning around to place himself at the table, grabbing a muffin.
Author's note: There you go. I'm quite fast with the updates, aren't I? Well next chapter is Ellie's date. Not sure how I will end that one yet, I'm still thinking about it. I do kind of like David Hamblin... Tell me what you want to see happening. Remus was a bit of a douche, wasn't he? Even though it was to cover up his own insecurities. Sirius has a point, you know. Thank you JohnnyStormsGirl, Tingting26021996 for the reviews. XO Eva