The next couple of days passed rather uneventfully. Bella would hang out with Ely when Lily wasn't around, and Severus would hang out with Ely when Lily was around. Severus would give Ely a nod of acknowledgement and sometimes a small smile, but it seemed as if he only did purely for Lily's benefit instead of his own. Lucius still attempted to try and get alone time with Ely, but every single time she saw him coming she would cast a disillusionment spell on herself. James only glared at Ely, but continued to try and be mean to Severus. Sirius would smile apologetically to her, but otherwise would do nothing else, probably testing the waters to see what side he was on. Remus looked at her apologetically but never dared to speak to her in fear of releasing her temper, and Peter would just look at her with wide eyes and try to run away.
It was Thursday when Ely had her first flying lesson at Hogwarts, and truth be told Ely couldn't stop smiling. Hagrid had noticed her cheerfulness when they passed each other, and he guessed that it was because of it. Not even all of James' snide remarks could have wiped that smile off her face.
"Good afternoon class." Madam Hooch came out and quickly separated the Slytherins from the Gryffindors.
"Good afternoon Madam Hooch." The class replied, and Madam Hooch started explaining.
"Now, on the count of three, kick off the ground with your broom stick. Once everyone is successfully in the air, I will blow the whistle, and we will make loops around the Quidditch pitch to refresh ourselves. Once I blow the whistle again, everyone will come back to the ground and I will separate the teams for a quick Quidditch match." Madam Hooch counted off, and James zoomed up past everyone.
Madam Hooch was about to blow the whistle when James already took off around the Quidditch pitch, halfway through turning around and circling Severus trying to get him off his broom. Ely and Lily went to his aide, but Lily was too scared to do anything other than yell. James heeded no warning, however, and continued to block Severus wherever he tried to go.
Ely, without really thinking it through, shouted, "Potter!" James turned to look at her slightly, to which she turned her back to him and said, "Catch me if you can you big dronger!" At this, James lost focus on Severus and Severus zoomed past James, but James was now trying to play catch up behind Ely.
Ely, quickly realizing James was catching up to her, decided to do a nose dive towards the ground. James, thinking she was going to come back up, followed her down, only to pull up a lot sooner than Ely, as Ely lifted her broom to a ninety degree angle and was barely grazing the floor. Seeing James starting to gain speed on her, she tipped the broom up so she was going up at a straight one hundred and eighty degree, and passed above James just as he was turning up. Ely now had realized that everyone else had already gotten off their brooms, Madam Hooch looking a bit livid and a little amused at the two. Realizing that the sooner she got to the ground the better, Ely let James get real close to where she was hovering before she dipped down, letting herself land quite gracefully on the ground. James, realizing Ely was on the ground and no longer in the air, zoomed down to where she was standing, grazing the top of her head before finally landing next to Sirius. He glared at her menacingly while she just smirked. The smirk quickly left her face, however, as soon as Madam Hooch marched up to the two of them.
"Potter and Taylor, follow me." She looked at the rest of the class, "If anyone tries to fly before I come back, you'll on the next train back home faster than you can say 'Quidditch'."
James and Ely followed reluctantly, most of the Slytherins smirking at a Gryffindor getting in trouble, but Bella and Lily looked sympathetic, while Severus looked upset. Ely tried to catch his eye as she passed, but he just turned his head the other way.
James snickered, "Looks like your boyfriend's mad at you."
"He's not my boyfriend." Ely glared, but the she smirked, "I know someone who would love to be my boyfriend though, and it just eats you alive."
"Leave Sirius out of this." James' glare return, which only made Ely smirk even wider.
"Who said I was talking about Sirius?" James' glare intensified as they turned the corner to Dumbledore's office. Hooch said "Quidditch" and the staircase moved. Dumbledore was already sitting in his office petting Fawkes when the three of them entered.
"Ah, Madam Hooch, Mr. Potter, Miss Taylor…"
"I can't stay for long Headmaster. I left my class outside because these two trouble makers thought it would have been funny to play tag on their first day of flying."
"Very well, go and attend your class."
"Thank you Headmaster." Madam Hooch turned on her heel and walked out.
"You two fly well." Dumbledore mused while pointing at a window, which was probably magically added since Ely didn't see it the last time she was here. "I find it entertaining to see the classes fly. Gives me an idea of who will become Quidditch players later on." He turned to look at them, "However, this is still a very serious matter. I have no choice but to take twenty points from each house and give both of you detention with Filch."
"But Professor, James was picking on a student in my house!" Ely tried to defend her house, but to no anvil.
"I saw that Miss Taylor, but you distracting him would have done enough. You continued then to fly around the Quidditch pitch, doing stunts that put your life and Mr. Potter's in danger due to inexperience. For that, you are just as much to blame as Mr. Potter. Be thankful I do not forbid the both of you from trying out for the Quidditch team this year."
Ely pouted, but said nothing more. Dumbledore assigned them both detentions for Friday after dinner. Walking out, neither said a word to the other. Each went to their respective common rooms, but unlike James, Ely had two people waiting for her.
"I must say, I am impressed by your flying skills according to Isabella." Lucius said, giving Ely a smirk, "So Elanora, how badly did you get punished?"
"Twenty points and detention with Filch." Ely shrugged, and Bella sighed in relief.
"I thought you were going to get expelled!" Bella hugged Ely, and Ely hugged back while Lucius chuckled.
"Quidditch is valued too high to have two good players expelled." He stood up to take leave, "I expect that you'll be on the team this year." He took her hand kissed the top of it, giving Bella a bow before going and walking to the boys' dorms. Bella was pink in the cheeks, and Ely rolled her eyes.
"Hey, do you want to go to the library? I need to check out a book." Ely offered, and Bella nodded. Opening the doorway and walking out, they quickly came face to face with Lily. Bella looked anxiously at Ely, to which Ely said "You go ahead, I'll catch up."
Ely took Lily a ways away from the dungeons towards the library. Once they were far away enough, Ely turned and asked Lily, "So what's up? Sorry about taking you so far away, but if another Slytherin besides Bella sees you, it won't be pleasant for me."
"Quite understandable." Lily sighed, "Look, I know you know Sev is mad at you. It's because you keep fighting his battles for him, and when you're not around, James picks on him even more." Lily smiled apologetically, "I know it's stupid, but it affects him."
"You can tell him he won't have to worry about me defending him anymore." Ely shrugged, "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Too bad I probably won't have another chance to blow Potter into the sky."
Lily laughed, "That was fun watching, wasn't it?" She turned the other way, "I'll see you at dinner, okay? I'm going to go and find Sev."
Ely nodded and continued her walk towards the library. Things were quiet, actually a bit too quiet. Ely heard a sudden noise, and then heard "Petrificus To-"
"Expelliarmus!" Another voice called out, and a wand flew, followed by "Finite incantatem" which revealed James looking rather sour, especially when Severus came out from around the corner.
James was about to reach for his wand when Ely called out "Stupefy!" and Severus also called out, "Langlock!"
Ely looked at Severus with gratitude and relief. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Severus gave her a small smile before looking at James, "You know, now I see why you take advantage when James tries to pick on me. It's rather a lot of fun."
James glared at them hard, to which the both of them smirked. Ely turned to face Severus, "I was just heading to the library to look up some ingredients for Potions. You're more than welcome to join."
"Yeah sure. Let me just get Lily." Ely smiled softly.
"Cool. See you in a few." With that, they went in two different directions, leaving James to wait until the effects wore off.