How to Live Life

Chapter 27

A/N: Hey everyone! I know, I'm updating often, it's weird. I'll try to keep it this way, but as we all know I've said that countless times and then go and abandon the story for months. I promise I'll try my best though! Anyway, I'm rambling and you don't care, so let me just start writing this chapter now…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Response to Reviews!:

Fire and Ice: Thanks for taking the time to give me some feedback again! It's much appreciated; I love to know what the readers want/think/feel. I'm also glad you liked the chapter for the most part. As for James/Ella I'm aware the last chapter was lacking a lot of interaction between them. I just felt stuff back in England had to be dealt with before I went in heavy with the pair. I wanted to add more to last chapter, but I looked at the word count (over 5,800 words) and figured I should stop. Now that I dealt with everyone back in England I can focus more on them. This chapter is going to be very Golden Marauder + Ella centric. Also I will definitely try to include the whole Potter-Weasley clan more! It's just been hard to lately because not everyone fits into every situation going on. It won't be this chapter, but I can promise you you'll see a lot more of some of the characters I've neglected. I'll also try to do an update on our recent Hogwarts grads and see how they're doing in their careers. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter : )

Guest: I'm so glad that you like this story! Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read it and write a review : ) I'm glad you like the plot and think it's good too. I also think you'll be happy to know that this chapter is very Golden Marauder + Ella centric. Which means… ;) I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Previously…

James frowned, "Well maybe I have had my heart broken too many time to want to believe that! She has dragged and hit my heart too many times since first year. It hurts, you know? To love someone so much and them to just despise you. She finally doesn't hate my guts and I can have a decent conversation with her. I don't want to ruin that; I can't ruin that. If friendship is all we'll ever be I'm fine with that if she's at least in my life. I have pushed all my feelings for her away and locked them up. I don't want her to break my heart again, I can't take another hit from her. My heart will shatter if she takes another hit. Please, stop bringing this up. It's already painful enough locking my feelings away; I don't need you two trying to bring them back out."

Fred and Louis nodded, "I'm sorry mate… I didn't realize, um… anyways… how about we start to plan?" Fred suggested.

James and Louis nodded and the Golden Marauders started to discuss their next step in America. Meanwhile, Ella stood outside the door, frozen; she heard their whole conversation.

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Fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, what am I doing? Ella thought to herself as she paced in the hallway outside the kitchen. Ella went downstairs this morning expecting to just say a simple "I'm okay," and then get going with the Anna Rivers/Vlasta investigation. She did not expect to hear the conservation the Golden Marauders just had in the kitchen. She did not expect to have guilt override her this morning. She came down shortly after Louis and Fred and was about to walk in the kitchen, but then she heard one of them ask "Is this about Ella?" Ella didn't consider herself a nosey person, but she couldn't help it but to stand there and listen to their conversation about her.

Ella felt horrible that she has been causing James so much agony over her breakdown. She felt horrible that James was worrying about her all night; felt horrible that he felt responsible for her breakdown. Louis and Fred were right though, you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped, and Ella didn't want to be helped. She kept it all inside her for months; she just didn't want to burden anyone with it. So she let it build, the guilt building up more and more until she just couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't hold up the façade anymore, the house triggered too many feelings inside of Ella causing her to break. James couldn't blame that on himself; there was nothing he could have done because Ella didn't confide in him. Ella felt horrible that he felt guilty about that, but even more so about something else; the way James felt about her and how she's been breaking his heart for years.

Ella has always been very harsh and rude to James. It all started in first year after the sorting ceremony. James and Ella just met and things were going well, but then he called her out on her bullshit. She was explaining to him her fake reason for being in America because no one was supposed to know the real reason at the time. It never was a very good reason and James knew that; he said she was lying/hiding about something. Ella didn't expect someone to call her out on that because it always seemed to work well for her sister, Chloe. Maybe it didn't and Chloe just didn't tell her because she didn't want her to worry. Point is that that was the last thing Ella expected, so she panicked. She flipped out on James and they both got really mad at each other. Then she got up to leave, but James thought that would be a good time to ask her out for the first time. Every time Ella looks back on that day she cringes. She is the one who started the mess between the pair. To be fair though James did go too far with his ways of asking her out multiple times. He also wouldn't leave her alone after she told him no countless times. Point is James is not the only one to blame for their rocky relationship; Ella is equally at fault.

Now that Ella has been friends with him for awhile now she regrets her outburst back in first year all the time. Through this whole Vlasta/Fiend Killer chaos James, Louis, and Fred have been the ones who never left her side. She hasn't spoken to her "best friends" in awhile now. She used to talk to them all the time, staying up late talking in their dormitory all night, always having each other backs…but it seems when things got tough they ditched Ella and that really hurt her. At least she was able to see who her true friends were though.

Ella's mind then trailed back to James; particularly what he just said about her to Louis and Fred. Ella could hear in his voice how hurt and frustrated he was. She never realized how much her arguments with him affected him. Ella always knew he had a crush on her, but she didn't realize how much he truly liked her. He said he loved her… Which brought Ella's mind back to the what she said to James the night before; she told him she loved him.

Why the fuck did I say that, Ella cursed to herself. It's not that Ella didn't mean it; it's just that she was still unsure about her feelings for him. She was still unsure herself how she meant it. Louis and Fred seemed to think she meant it romantically and James thought she meant it as friends… Ella just didn't know what to feel. She couldn't deny that she has had a couple instances now where maybe she did feel more for him, saw more in him. It's just that he is James Potter, the guy who she's denied affection for for years. Was it possible that she had a crush on him?

"Ugh!" Ella grunted in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose as she continued to pace.

"What was that?" Ella heard Louis say from the kitchen.

Ella slapped her forehead. Why am I so stupid? Why did say that so fucking loudly? I'm not ready to confront them right now! I'm so bloody confused and-

"Ella, are you okay?" James asked her as he walked out of the kitchen into the hallway.

Ella looked up at him and tried to compose herself the best she could, "Yeah, of course, why wouldn't I be?"

James looked at her worryingly, "It's just you were pacing, and grunting, and then their was last ni-"

"I said I'm fine! Okay? Can we just get started on what we came here for!" Ella interrupted him as she shoved past him.

James grabbed her arm before she could get away and looked her in the eyes, "I didn't mean to offend you, Ella. I'm sorry if I did, I just had to make sure you were okay."

Ella sighed, "I'm sorry, James, I didn't mean to lash out on you. I'm just a bundle of confused emotions right now and I'd rather not talk about it."

James nodded and continued to stare down at Ella, still holding her arm. He was glad to see her features turned back to normal over night; red hair and blue eyes back. Everything about her was utterly perfect to him. Stop it, James, don't do something you'll regret, James thought to himself as he looked down at his hand still on her arm. James quickly let go of her arm and tore his eyes away from hers. He let out an awkward cough before saying, "We should join Louis and Fred and get planning."

Ella frowned as she watched him remove his hand from her arm and nodded at his suggestion. I'm really messing with his head, aren't I, Ella thought to herself as she followed him into the kitchen.

"Hey Ella," Fred and Louis said in unison with matching smirks.

Ella smiled at them as she sat down between Fred and James, "Hey you guys. Not up to anything you're not supposed to, right?"

Fred gasped in mock hurt, "Ella, why would we such a thing?"

Ella shrugged, "Maybe because those evil smirks on your faces say otherwise."

Louis smiled, "No, we're not up to something; we're taking this mission very seriously. It's just that we have some bets going on."

James glared at his friends and mouthed shut up. Ella stared at the pair in confusion, "Bets on what?"

Louis smirked, "That's top secret Miss Smith."

Ella shook her head and laughed, "Whatever you guys. Anyway we need to get started with our plan. Have you guys started on anything yet?"

James nodded, "Fred and Louis found out that we cannot use a spell or potion to get the trace off of us. However, if you're in another country for over 48 hours the trace will switch over to that countries control. So as long as we don't use magic for the next day or so my family shouldn't be able to track us."

Ella smiled, "That's good news! I highly doubt your family will be able to convince the MACUSA to do anything for them. They're quite corrupt at the moment."

Fred nodded, "Now we just need to hang out here for the next day or so, figure out where we are going, and then how we're going to get there."

Ella sighed and put her face in her hands, "I have no idea where to even start with that."

"Ella, do you happen to have some files on the Wizarding families in America in your house?" Louis asked.

Ella removed her face from her hands and lowered her brows as she thought about the question, "Possibly… I mean my parents are aurors, so I wouldn't be surprised if they had files on hand at home… Especially with the way things were before they got…you know…um…"

Ella paused and took a breath, pushing back the memories again so she wouldn't break down in tears. James looked at her with concern and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and he smiled at her. Ella shook her head to snap herself out of her sorrow then continued, "Sorry, so I was saying since things were bad I wouldn't be surprised if they kept their work at home rather than their offices in the MACUSA. We can look for family files and maybe some cases they left open too."

James nodded, "That's good, lets check that. Also, Ella, you don't have to go in there if you don't want to, if it's too much, I mean…"

Ella shook her head and got up from the table, "No, I need to face it; I can't keep dodging problems. Now come on, let's search."

James, Louis, and Fred got up from the table and followed Ella to her parents office. James couldn't help but to look around at everything on the way. There were so many pictures of the Smith family; they all looked so happy. James turned his focus to Ella and saw that her eyes were fixed on the ground, avoiding looking at the photos. James frowned seeing how hard this all was for her. He then shifted his focus back to the photos and one particular one caught his eyes; it was a young Ella and Celeste at the beach. James lowered his brows in confusion as to why they still had that picture up; then he realized the Smith's have been captured since the day they all figured out Celeste was a traitor and never died. They both looked so happy there, so innocent. He had no idea why someone would backstab Ella the way Celeste did. They looked very close in that picture and the pictures he continued to see of them throughout the house. He wondered why Celeste chose to do what she did; did their friendship mean nothing to her?

"Okay, here we are," Ella said, interrupting James' thoughts.

James looked up to see Ella glaring at the door. James frowned, "Ella…you don't ha-"

"I do though," Ella said as she pushed the door open and walked in.

The Golden Marauders followed her hesitantly into the office. Ella rushed over to the desk on the left side of the room and sat down in the roller chair. Ella sighed, "I don't even know where to start. As you can see this place is a mess; my parents always overworked themselves and took on too many cases at once."

The Golden Marauders looked around and Ella was right, it was a mess. Both desks were piled high with multiple stacks of papers. There were books everywhere: the floor, the shelves, the desks, the tables…just everywhere. There were quills spilt on the floor along with loose papers. Open drawers with papers and files hanging out. Ella laughed at their faces, "Yeah, my parents aren't the neatest of people… Anyway, I guess just grab something and holler when you find anything of importance."

The Golden Marauders just shrugged and went over to join Ella in the search. Ella decided to open up the desk she was at and look to see if they had any files stored. Fred went to the other desk and searched through the piles on top of the desk. Louis went to the same desk and looked through the drawers. James sat down on the floor and decided to look though all the papers that fell.

They searched for hours not finding anything of importance. Plenty of interesting cases, just none involving anything useful to them. They also couldn't find anything on Wizarding families in America. Ella sighed, "Guys, I give up. We've been searching for hours now and haven't come across anything."

James pushed his hair back, "What else can we do though? This office is our only hope."

"I don't know," Ella said as she slammed her face down on the desk.

"Wait, Ella, don't you have another house in Hawaii?" Fred asked.

Ella lifted her head up and lowered her brows, "Yeah, but that's the vacation house, they wouldn't…wait… that would be the perfect place to hide files; no one would expect it!"

James got up from his place on the floor, "Then lets go!"

Ella smiled as she got up and left the room, "We can floo there, I don't think that should be traced! I just hope we have some floo powder here…"

The Golden Marauders nodded at her as they ran into the living room. Ella turned to face them, "Just say 'Smith Hale' and you should get there fine. I'll go first… thank Merlin we have floo powder."

Ella smiled as she grabbed some floo powder and dropped it, saying "Smith Hale," as she disappeared off to Hawaii.

James went directly after her, rushing up to the fireplace trying to avoid Louis and Fred commenting on him and Ella once again. When he got there he stumbled a bit then saw Ella across the room, staring out the window. James frowned and went to approach her. When he got closer he noticed she was fiddling with the locket around her neck. James put a comforting hand on her shoulder and asked, "Are you alright?"

Ella looked up at him and nodded, "Yeah, it's just… you know this locket and its story. See that big rock out there, the one next to all those red flowers?" James nodded.

"That's the one Celeste and I moved to find these lockets," Ella paused and took the locket off her neck; opening it.

"That's Celeste and I years ago; when she used to be my friend. I look back at those years and all I can think is…how could she do this to me? We used to be so close… There were never any signs… it's just she wanted revenge for her parents death, I guess. I just can't believe that she just switched to the other side so easily. My parents left the resistance once they went behind their back and killed Celeste's parents. She knew that they left, she knew we cared about her, she knew her parents despised Vlasta… If she knew all that then why did she do it? Did revenge mean more to her than my family's love for her? More than her own family's values? More than our friendship…"

"I don't know, Ella. I think those are questions only she can answer," James told her as he hugged Ella into his side and stroked her back.

Ella nodded as she leaned into James more, enjoying the comfort. Meanwhile Louis and Fred already got to the house and were smirking at the pair.

"Ugh, why do they have to be in denial?" Fred asked Louis.

Louis chuckled, "Because they're both stubborn idiots!"

Fred smiled back at his cousin then turned his attention back to James and Ella, "Should we interrupt them?"

Louis nodded, "Yup, but we have to do it with style…let's scare them!"

Fred smirked, "I like the way you think Louis! Let's… let's sneak out that door over there, then pop up in front of the window they're staring out of!"

"Hell yeah! Let's go!" Louis whispered.

With that they snuck out the door unnoticed and made their way over to the window. When they got there they kneeled down under the window. Louis then looked at Fred, "Count down?"

Fred smirked, "Yeah, three…two…one… AHHHHHHHHH."

"FUCK!" they could hear Ella curse through the window as she and James jumped apart and gripped their wands.

Louis and Fred both fell down to the floor, rolling in laughter. Ella then opened up the window to talk to them, "You shitheads!"

"Your…faces…were… priceless," Fred managed to get out between laughs.

James rolled his eyes at his friends, "I hate being the victim of pranks, but I got to admit it; you guys got us good."

Louis smirked at his friend while he got himself up from the ground, "We know, your reactions made our day."

Ella rolled her eyes whilst smiling, "Whatever you guys, just get inside. We need to get started on looking for evidence."

Louis and Fred nodded and scurried inside to join James and Ella. When they got there Ella told them, "Let's check the bedroom. There isn't an office here so I think that's our best bet. Just look for anything suspicious, anything that has a lock, and for anything that looks out of place."

They all nodded and Ella started to lead them to the master bedroom. When they got there she pushed open the double doors, "Here we are…let's search."

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"WHY DID YOU APPARATE US AWAY! THAT WAS OUR ONLY CHANCE! NOW THEY'RE EXPECTING US, THEY'RE PREPARED NOW! THEY PROBABLY HAVE BLOODY AURORS STATIONED EVERYWHERE! YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST APPARATED US TO A DIFFERENT PLACE IN HOGWARTS!" Vlasta bellowed at Celeste.

Celeste rolled her eyes, "It honestly wasn't that important; we were only doing it for revenge. We were just mad Smith and Potter got away, it wasn't what we came there for. We came there because you wanted something from Ella; something you still haven't told me about."

Vlasta rolled her eyes, "I haven't told you because you don't need to know. Also why not get revenge? Why not cause more chaos amongst those filthy mudbloods and blood-traitors!"

Celeste pinched the bridge of her nose, "Maybe because we were wasting time? We had more important matters to attend to…maybe like, I don't know…how POTTER AND SMITH ESCAPED!"

Vlasta glared at Celeste, "The Fiend Killers are-"

"The Fiend Killers can't do shit! We're the ones who can really get the job done, but we were too mad about letting her escape! So mad we wanted revenge on the people she cared about most. Although revenge is usually good it wasn't in that situation. We let Smith get farther and farther away from us. We had a better chance at catching her last night. Now it's the next day, they could be anywhere in the whole world at this point!"

Vlasta glared, "It was already too late when Weasel stunned me. We should have stayed and at least got something done."

Celeste rolled her eyes, "They would have kept busting us, the place was infested with aurors! Can we stop fighting; we're wasting even more time. What we need to be doing right now is trying to track down Smith and Potter!"

Vlasta rolled her eyes as she sat down on Celeste's bed. After Vlasta took a hit last night Celeste brought Vlasta back to the headquarters. Celeste was pretty worn out from the day so she scurried off to her own room to get some sleep before facing Vlasta's wrath. She was awakened this morning by Vlasta barging in and yelling at her; just what she expected.

Celeste sighed, "Don't roll your eyes; you know I'm right! Can we please just focus on getting them back right now!"

Vlasta glared at Celeste, "I will focus on getting them back, you will stay here."

Celeste's jaw dropped, "What? No I'm going to help I-"

"No, you're not," Vlasta interrupted, "You've caused enough trouble for me. You will sit here and contemplate your shit decisions."

"What! No!"

"Shut up!" Vlasta bellowed, "You will do as I say or suffer the consequences. You don't want another one of those rings, do you?"

Celeste glared at her before she looked down at her hand. The finger it was on was red, irritated, and dry. Vlasta gave it to her when they first met. She didn't think anything of it at the time, but as time went in she noticed weird things about it. She first noticed that she could not take it off; she's tried every spell that's supposed to and nothing can get it off. Then she started to notice how red her finger had turned, then it started to get dry, and sometimes it even bleed. The more recent thing she's noticed about it is the mood swings it causes. She'll feel horrible about her life and the things she done; then next thing she knows she just killed someone.

Vlasta smiled as she looked at Celeste's scared face, "That's what I thought, now stay here and be a good girl. If you are the faster you'll be back out in the field."

With that Vlasta turned her back to Celeste and left the room, slamming the door behind her. Celeste dropped her head and ran over to her bed. She slammed her face into her pillow and screamed at the top of her lungs. Then she curled into a fetal position and started sobbing her eyes out. Celeste wiped some of the tears from her eyes so she could take a closer look at the ring on her finger. She pulled at at, tried to yank it off, tried to crack it, but just like every time it didn't work. This only made Celeste sob harder.

"What am I doing…? What have I done…? What have I become…? AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Celeste yelled as she started to throw stuff off her shelves and breaking things.

Then her hand wrapped around something she cared for deeply: her locket. Celeste's heart stopped as she looked at it; memories flooding back into her mind. Tears continued to roll down Celeste's face as she opened it up. She looked at the picture of her and Ella and frowned. Celeste missed those days dearly. Back when she had a family, when she had people who cared, when she had friends…

"What have I done…" Celeste muttered to herself as a teardrop fell on the picture.

Celeste then quickly closed the locket and shoved it in her pocket. She opened her door and ran down the halls, down all the way to the dungeons. Celeste cringed as the screams of the prisoners started to sound in her ears. Celeste gulped before she pushed open the doors. The guards looked at her suspiciously as she did, so she quickly muttered, "I have permission."

They quickly nodded, knowing that she was a psychotic bitch who would kill them all on the spot if they didn't let her through. Celeste frowned as that thought crossed her mind; she hated that that's was what people thought of her… a psychotic bitch. Celeste kept her eyes glued to the floor as she walked through the dungeons; hundreds of people yelling at her as she walked by.

"Your parents would be so disappointed in you!"

"You're a heartless little bitch!"

"How dare you backstab your best friend!"

"Why on earth would you switch to the dark side? You were such a sweet kid; guess you fooled us all you psychotic little bitch!"

"Oh look who it is, Vlasta's little assistant! Come to kill us like the thousands you did before us!"

Celeste wiped the tears from her face as she started to pick up her pace; eventually reaching the room she was looking for. She pushed open the high security room quickly; then paused as she saw the people she came looking for across the room. They were locked up in two separate cells next to one another. The lady noticed her first, glaring at her, "What do you want? Come to torture us! Go for it!"

Celeste closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears from pouring down her face. The lady laughed at her, "Please just run back to your master or torture us; we don't want to talk."

Celeste opened her eyes and took in the lady's appearance. She had cuts, bruises, and gashes all along her body. Her hair was a rats nest and her clothes were ripped and dirty. This only made Celeste cry harder.

"I'm… so…so…sor-…sorry. I… never… wan-….wanted… this to… happen…" Celeste managed to get out between sobs.

Celeste's sobbing caught the attention of the man next to lady and he glared at her as well, "If you didn't want this to happen you wouldn't have captured us and brought us here."

Celeste continued to sob, "I… I'm… so… sorry… Mr….and…. Mrs…. Sm-….Smith."

Rachel Smith lowered her brows, "Stop saying sorry; it's a little too late for that, don't you think?"

Celeste took a deep breath to compose herself and wiped the tears from her face away. She then walked up closer to their cells, "I know it is, but I truly am. I don't know what I've become… I hate myself… I don't even know who I am anymore… I just… I feel so lost."

"If you hate doing this then why'd you do it?" Jack Smith asked her.

Celeste threw her hands up in the air as she started to pace, "I don't even know! She just found me and… and I was just so sad. She made the idea sound great, but I quickly realized it wasn't!"

Rachel frowned at her, "If you quickly realized that then why did you stay? Why are you still following her commands?"

Celeste sighed, "I wish it was that simple, to just stop and leave. It's not though, not when she controls everything about you!"

Jack lowered his brows in confusion, "What do you mean? Are you trying to play us right now? Is this part of a plan."

Celeste sighed, "No, I'm dead fucking serious right now! I'm just so sick and tired of living this life! I want my old life back, the one with you guys in it! The one when I had people who cared for me! I swear to Merlin I'm not messing with you guys right now. Vlasta basically grounded me and if she knew I was out of my room, especially being down here, she'd kill me! I've come here in my own! I came here because I wanted to let you know how sorry I am! How much I regret everything in my life!"

Rachel growled, "I can see that you mean it, but sorry isn't going to cut it. Celeste… you lied to us! You faked your own death, do you have any idea how hard that was for us? Ella cried for weeks on end when you were announced dead! I wish you were dead though because at least then you wouldn't be this. I'd rather have happy memories of you being a good person than you being alive being a crazy psychotic traitor! You're also the one who captured us! You're the one who brought us here! You're the one has let us suffer here for nine months now!"

Celeste dropped her head, "I know, and I don't deserve your forgiveness. I just wanted you to know I am sorry and that I wish I was able to leave."

Jack glared at her, "Well why can't y-"

"Oh no! Oh no, no, no," Celeste interrupted, looking down at her hand.

Rachel and Jack have each other a look of confusion then turned their attention back to Celeste. They saw her looking at hand, trying to tear off some ring frantically. Next thing they know they see the look in her eyes change. She no longer looks apologetic and sad; now she looks psychotic and evil.

Celeste grinned at them evilly, "Well look who it is? The filthy blood traitor Smith's."

Rachel shook her head in confusion, "What the hell happened to you? You were just apologizing!"

Celeste laughed evilly, "Me? Apologize? Wow being locked up has made you delusional! Now as much as I would love to torture you right now I have more pressing things to do."

With that Celeste turned on her heel and left the high security room. Rachel turned to her husband, "What the hell happened?"

"I don't kn-"

"CRUCIO! YOU FILTHY BLOOD TRAITOR SCUM! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME!" they heard Celeste bellow from afar.

Jack turned to look at his wife, "It's that ring! That ring is definitely doing something to her! That's what she meant when she said she couldn't escape! That ring is controlling her."

Rachel looked at her husband sadly, "I wonder how long she's had that ring."

"YOU UGLY FILTHY HALF-BLOOD WHORE! HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME! CRUCIO!"

Jack cringed as he heard the girl he used to know so well say that, "Probably since the beginning…"

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"AHA!" Fred yelled from under the bed in the Smith's master bedroom.

"What?" Ella yelled as she rushed over to him, kneeling down beside him.

"There's something locked away right here! Come under and look!"

Ella did as he told her to do and joined him under the bed. He had a flashlight pointed at a lock holding two metal doors shut. Ella quickly got up from under the bed, "Come on, help me move the bed!"

With that each one of them grabbed one of the corners of the bed and pushed it out of their way. They then all gathered around the metals doors in the floor. Ella sighed, "How did I not notice this?"

"There were storage containers covering it as well as two layers of carpet," Fred said as he pointed to the stuff he had to move to find it.

Louis sighed, "Well we found it, but we can't use magic to unlock it and we don't know where the bloody key is."

James lowered his brows while he contemplated their options, "Maybe they left a clue somewhere?"

"I mean it's possible, but I don't think they ever wanted anyone to find this so I doubt it," Ella told him.

James sighed, "Well then I don't know… Wait, Ella, you grew up with this war! Did your parents ever tell you anything to do incase of an emergency?"

Ella pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to search her mind for something, "I don't know, it's all too vague in my mind."

"It's fine, Ella, take your time. Maybe something in the house will trigger your memory," Louis suggested.

Ella nodded as she got up, "Yeah, I'll take a walk around and see if anything comes to mind."

They all nodded at her as she left the room. She walked through the whole house; the halls, the bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, living room, patio, attic, bathrooms, entertainment rooms…everywhere. Nothing triggered anything in her mind though. With a sigh of defeat Ella walked out of the house and looked at the ocean. She let her long red hair fly in the breeze and dug her feet into the sand. Ella closed her eyes and started to pretend she was kid on vacation here again; not a teenager on a hunt to stop an evil witch.

A few minutes went by like that until Ella jumped in shock when a hand rested on her shoulder. Ella turned her head to see James smirking at her, "Did I scare you?"

Ella rolled her eyes, "maybe a bit…"

James laughed as a he removed his hand from her shoulder; realizing he has been super touchy with her lately. He coughed awkwardly, "Any luck figuring out anything with the lock?"

Ella shook her head as she sat down in the sand, tired of standing. James quickly followed suit and sat down next to her. "Do you know if they ever mentioned anything," James asked her.

Ella nodded, "They did I just can't remember what… It was so long ago; it was back before Hogwarts."

James nodded at her and quickly shifted his attention to the ocean to avoid staring at her. Ella looked up at him and frowned; she didn't realize until now how comforting it was to have James just simply wrap an arm around her and tell her everything's okay. Ella took a deep breath, mustering all her Gryffindor courage as she leaned up against him and wrapped an arm around his back.

James looked down at her in shock; that was last thing he would ever expect her to do. She just wants to be friends, James, stop thinking like that, James thought to himself. James smiled down at her anyway and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she rested her head against his left arm.

"Why does life have to suck so much?" Ella asked him lifelessly.

"Life doesn't suck, Ella," James told her as he started to rub circles on her shoulders.

Ella sighed, "My whole life all I've ever known is war. My parents were constantly on the run with Chloe and I… it's not a fun way to grow up. Especially when you're so young and don't understand what's fully going on. I always saw the fear in everyone's eyes and knew something wasn't okay. Then they told me the full truth of the severity of this whole war and I was even more terrified… I always worry about Vlasta killing me or the people I love. I used to have to always hide my life back in America from everyone; now that was hella stressful. When you lot found out I shitted myself, I was so scared Vlasta would find out and kill all of us. Now here I am, on the run trying to bring her down… Why couldn't I have a normal life? Why does Vlasta have to target me specifically? I just wish I wasn't Ella Alaina Smith…"

"You don't mean that…" James told her.

Ella sighed, "But I do, I wish I was someone else. Then I wouldn't have had a stressful childhood, wouldn't have had to go overseas for school leaving all I ever knew, wouldn't have to live in fear, wouldn't have a backstabbing ex-friend, wouldn't be Vlasta's top target, wouldn't be on the run, wouldn't be the dumbass I am…"

James turned to look at her and frowned. He cupped her cheek in his hand and moved her face to face him. He stroked her cheek with his thumb as his heartbeat quickened in his chest. He looked at her lovingly, "You, Ella Smith, are not a dumbass. You're the most amazing person I've ever met. You're so strong, Ella, how can you not see that? Life may have put you through hell, but you never cracked, you've always fought back. You have every reason in the world to give up after what you've been through. Yet you keep fighting for the greater good because you're an amazing person. So many people love you, Ella… We all support you and we'll all stand beside you until the very end. You have done so much, Ella, so many good things for so many people. I'm so glad that you are you, Ella Alaina Smith… I don't know what I would do without you in my life… I love you so much it hurts, I don't even want to imagine a life without you in it…. So stop saying you wish you weren't you because you're fucking amazing. The world needs you… I need you…"

Ella stared at James with glossy eyes and her mouth agape. "Fuck…" Ella muttered.

When she said that James shook his head and moved to get up, "Merlin's saggy balls… I'm so sorry, we're just friends, I know… um, I'll go now."

Ella sat frozen as she watched James walk off, running his hands through his hair and cursing to himself. Ella couldn't believe what he just said to her. It was the nicest and sweetest thing anyone has ever said to her… She knew James had a crush on her, but she didn't realize it ran that deep; he really did love her…

Ella didn't know what to think right now; all she knew was that she thought she felt the same… no, she knew she felt the same. She has been in denial for awhile now. She started to see the real him and she's been falling for him ever since. She's only been in denial because the immature toe rag version of him keeps coming back to her mind; only because she's stubborn and doesn't want to give in… That's not him anymore though, people change and James did. James has slowly crept his way into her heart and as she watched him walk away all sad she couldn't imagine her life without him in it. She knew in her heart how she meant the "I love you," she told him the night before.

"Fuck it," Ella said to herself as she jumped up from her spot on the sand and ran after James. She jumped on his back and tackled him to the the ground, "Ella? What are you doing?" James asked a he looked up at her.

James was laying on his back with Ella on top of him, her face a few inches away from his. Ella smiled at him while her heartbeat quickened, "Something I should have done awhile ago when I first realized it."

James gave her a confused look, "What do you- mmmppphhh."

James was silenced by Ella's lips as she leaned down and kissed him. James was tense at first in complete and utter shock, but quickly melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her. Ella was running her hands through his messy hair as their lips danced together. They then both reluctancy had to come up for air and rested their foreheads against one another.

"What the fuck?" James muttered as he started to chuckle.

Ella chuckled along with him as she removed her forehead from his to look him in the eyes, "I feel the same way for you, James. I have been in denial for awhile because I'm just a stubborn person who didn't want to give in…but then when you said all of that to me minutes ago… I don't know….something just clicked. As I saw you walk away all sad I realized I can't imagine you not being in my life… I meant what I said to you last night, James, I love you."

James smiled up at her as he pushed a stray hair behind her ear, "And I love you, I always have… be my girlfriend, Ella?"

Ella lowered her brows as if contemplating it, "hmm, I don't know…"

James frowned at her and Ella laughed, "I'm just kidding, of course I will."

James was about to kiss her again, but James was interrupted by Louis yelling, "FUCKING FINALLY! I THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER SEE THIS DAY!"

"I'M SO PROUD OF THEM! OH YOUNG LOVE…" Fred joined in.

"THEY GROW UP SO FAST," Louis yelled as he pretended to fan tears away.

Ella and James both chuckled as they untangled themselves from one another other. James intertwined Ella's hand with his then said, "Really guys? Did you have to interrupt?"

"Yes," they both said in unison.

Ella was about to tell them off for interrupting, but then she saw something on the side of the house behind Louis and Fred that triggered a memory.

"Holy shit, I remember now!" Ella exclaimed as she got up and dragged James with her over to the side of the house.

She bent down and took a starfish off the side of the wall. All the boys looked at her in confusion so she explained, "My parents always used to preach to Chloe and I, 'the starfish on the wall will save us all.'"

Fred lowered his brows in confusion, "How will it save us?"

Ella sighed as she screwed off one of the points of the star fish like a water bottle. She then turned it upside down to get whatever was inside of it out; a key and a letter.

Ella smiled, "So this key has to open that lock, but I don't know what this letter is about."

James wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "You should read it before opening the lock."

Ella nodded as she tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A/N: They're finally together, YAY! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for taking the time to read this story of mine. I'll try to update soon!

PLEASE READ: I have a one shot series that goes along with this story; it's basically about the GM's time at Hogwarts before this story started. I haven't really updated it in a long time and it only has two chapters. I'm only bringing it up now because one of those one shots is referenced in this chapter; it's Ella and James first interaction together in their first year. Just thought I'd tell you so Ella's vague explanation will make more sense. You can find it if you go to my profile, it's titled "Golden Marauders."

Thanks again : )

~~~Lanie~~~