Thanks so much to lenokiie for the review! Here's chapter 5. Let me know what you think, reviews give me motivation to update quicker! :)
On Monday after DADA class finished, I told Fred and George I just needed to talk to Lupin about something and that they should head to lunch without me. They nodded and all but ran out of the room. I shook my head at them and made it to the front of Lupin's desk.
He looked up at me with a smile. "Is there something I can do for you Miss - Ella?" he finished after remembering what I told him about calling me by my first name.
I pulled out my copy of "Pride and Prejudice" and handed it to him, "I thought you might like to read my copy. I've underlined some of my favorite parts." I said, somewhat nervously.
The nerves went away when his smile turned into a full grin. "That's very nice of you, Ella. Thank you."
"You're welcome." I didn't really know what else to say, so I turned to begin walking to the door when he called me back.
I looked back to see him grabbing something from one of the drawers in his desk. As he got up to bring it to me, I saw it was a book. "'Madness of two.' Have you read it?"
I took the book and answered him, "No, I haven't."
"It's one of my favorites. By wizard author Leonard Thompson. I have a feeling you'll enjoy it." He smiled.
"I'm sure I will. Thank you, sir." He nodded and I made my way to the door.
Down at the Great Hall I took my seat between the twins, both of them too busy stuffing their faces to give me a proper greeting. I rolled my eyes and piled food onto my plate.
"Hey," I heard the familiar Scottish drawl.
I looked up and met Oliver's eyes. "Hey Oliver." I assumed he was going to talk to the twins about quidditch practice or something, but he continued talking to me.
"How was your summer?"
"It was great, how was yours?"
"It was brilliant. I went to so many quidditch matches." he grinned.
"I sort of assumed." I smirked.
He smiled and looked down at his plate, then back up at me. "So, first Hogsmeade weekend is coming up."
"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that."
"Yeah, listen-"
"Hey!" Angelina cut him off and sat down next to him.
"Hey Ang." I replied. "What were you saying Oliver?" By this time Fred, George, and Angelina were all listening to our conversation.
"Erm, it wasn't important. I've got to get going, anyway." He stood up and began walking to the doors.
"Okay…that was weird." I said to the others. I looked up to see the twins smirking. "What?"
"Nothing," they replied.
Later that day, before dinner, I had decided to take the book Lupin gave me and go out onto the lawn to read underneath a tree in front of the lake. The twins had quidditch practice, so they weren't around to bother me, as they usually did when I was trying to do anything productive. The weather was lovely- I had rolled up my sleeves, my hair was held in a low side ponytail while I used my tie as a sort of head band, and my bare legs were stretched out in front of me, crossed at the ankles. As soon as I began reading, I immediately became immersed.
I head read a few chapters when a shadow was cast over me. I glanced up and my heart skipped as I met Professor Lupin's eyes. He smiled kindly at me. "Hello, Ella. Enjoying some light reading before dinner?"
"Yes, the book you lent me is very good." I replied, shifting my legs a bit.
He glanced down at them briefly at the movement, before looking back up to my face, "I'm glad. I knew you'd like it."
I chuckled a bit and looked down before looking to his eyes, "You can sit, if you like." I was nervous for his answer, but I didn't need to be, as he smiled and took a seat next to me. He leaned his back against the tree and closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, looking out to the lake.
"I forgot how beautiful this place is."
"Does it feel weird to be back?" I asked, curiously.
He chuckled lightly before answering, "Yes, it does."
"What house were you?" He opened him mouth to reply before I went "No wait! Let me guess."
He laughed a bit and nodded his head, awaiting my answer.
"I'm gonna say…Ravenclaw." I smiled, confident in my answer.
He chuckled and shook his head, "Gryffindor. Though everyone thought I should've been a Ravenclaw, myself included at times."
"Well the sorting hat knows you better than you know yourself, which is creepy I know," I paused as he let out a soft laugh "but he must have seen that you're a true Gryffindor at heart. If he thought you were meant for Ravenclaw, that's where he would've put you."
"I suppose you're right," he smiled softly.
There was a comfortable beat of silence before I asked, "How'd you find me anyway? Were you just out for a walk?"
"Yeah. I just wanted to go for a short stroll before dinner, and I saw you over here and thought I'd come say hello."
That was a lie. He'd seen her sitting out here from his office window and had the sudden urge to just be near her- talk to her, sit with her, anything. Not that he'd ever tell her that, or anybody for that matter. The full moon was nearing and his senses were going haywire. A sudden breeze blew by, lifting her hair lightly, and with it, her scent. His nostrils filled with the smell of what he could only describe as Ella.
He cleared his throat, "Dinner should be starting, why don't we go inside?" He stood up and his hand appeared in front of my face. I glanced up at his face, meeting his eyes for one electric moment before grabbing a hold of his hand- taking notice of how much bigger it was than mine- and allowed him to pull me to my feet.
We began walking back up to the castle in a comfortable silence and entered the Great Hall together, all the while butterflies were going crazy in my stomach.