10 December 1994
While the school seemed to somewhat accept they had two champions after the first task, the hostile lines were still clear to everyone. Cassius Warrington continued to strut through the halls as if he was untouchable, only sneering at those who would dare mock him for his performance during the first task. After all, he survived the dragon fire, right? After the announcement of the Yule ball his following only seemed to grow as girls from other houses started to trail after him, batting their eye lashes to try and secure themselves a champion as a date. It was rumored he was taking private interviews in various broom closets all over the castle.
Not to say the other champions fared any better, Fluer was never left alone as boys of all ages fell over themselves to ask her for the privilege of being her date for the ball. The blonde beauty would huff and mutter angrily in French as she stalked away from them. Krum spent a lot of his time in the library, hoping to escape his ever growing fan club, he actually resorted to growling like a caged animal when girls approach him. Harry found himself at the center of attention after the first task. Students from all houses and even the competitor schools rushed to congratulate him on his superb flying skills. The humble boy blushed and stuttered as some of the Beauxbatons girls ambushed him on the way to the loo to try and secure a date.
"'Arry, eet would be a pleazzzure..." Hermione rounded the corner to find a particularly busty blonde leaning close to her boyfriend as she purred in his ear. The fourth year saw red as the French hussy actually had the audacity to put her hands on her boyfriend who was staring at the girl in horror as she kept trying to get closer to him.
"Oi!" Hermione exclaimed as she yanked the girl back by her shiny straw colored hair and pushed her to the side. The French girl fell to the ground much harder than Hermione actually threw her then turned to look up at the irate red head with tears in her eyes. Her wand was in her hand as soon as she saw the girl look to her boyfriend, pleading for assistance.
"'Arry?" The girl asked breathily, her lashes fluttering as she demurely cowered before them.
"Oui, 'Arry?" Hermione sneered sarcastically with an abysmal French accent, the bespectacled boy moved quickly to her side, reaching out to take her hand.
"She came up of bloody nowhere, when her friends left she stayed behind to chat." Harry groaned, looking down at his girlfriend nervously.
"You will stay away from my boyfriend! You can tell your little friends as well...'Arry already has a date." Hermione said sternly as she pointed her wand at the girls face, almost instantly the tears in the girls eyes dried as she picked herself up from the floor.
"'E waz non complaining." The girl said in a heavily accented scoff as she smoothed down her blue silk uniform and pulled out her wand to twirl it in her fingers with a mocking smile.
"It's flattering but Hermione is my girlfriend and my date for the Yule ball." Harry said firmly as he stepped forward to place himself between his girlfriend and the older girl. While he in no way doubted his girlfriend's skill he really just wanted to put the embarrassing situation behind them.
"Manon!" An irate voice cut the French girl off as she opened her mouth. Madam Maxime stormed over to the trio, her hands on her hips as she looked over the two girls with their wands drawn.
"Madam!" Manon put her wand away quickly, her face flushed with embarrassment as her headmistress eyed her critically.
"To the carriage, Manon! I will not be having my girls carrying on like the English!" The giant woman exclaimed with a glare. The blushing blonde girl wasted no time in dashing down the hall, her headmistress following close behind after sending the couple a heated glare.
"I can't leave you alone for a moment!" Hermione scoffed as they turned to join their friends in the great hall.
"She was like a foot taller than me!" Harry exclaimed with wide eyes as his girlfriend chuckled, her shoulders relaxing as she remembered his horrified face.
"Oh, did the-" Hermione started to tease him but he cut her off by Harry kissing her soundly, his cheeks red from the embarrassment of needing to be rescued from the French girl.
"Will you go to the ball with me?" A high pitched voice interrupted their kiss, Hermione rocked back on her heels and turned to see a very red Hannah Abbott staring at Harry expectantly.
"No!" Harry exclaimed loudly, his face stricken as he looked at his girlfriend then back to the blonde in front of them. Hermione watched as the girl's face fall and her eyes welled with tears before she rushed past them.
"Must be nice not to have to worry about finding a date. Even when you're snogging my sister the ladies still fall over themselves to get to you." Ron sighed dramatically as he made his way towards them, followed closely by Luna and Neville. While it still bothered him seeing his best mate kiss his sister, he wisely chose to keep his mouth shut about it, especially since their friendship was just getting back to normal.
"I don't think she could see through the wrackspurts, poor thing." Luna sighed dreamily as she drifted from Neville's side to stand beside Hermione.
"I wish they would get the hint." Harry groaned as he followed behind his girlfriend and Luna, Ron and Neville flanking him.
"Don't be too hard on yourself, some of us are still trying to find a date." Ron groused with a small frown. Neville avoided the red heads gaze as Ron looked to him for reinforcement.
"Well, have you asked anyone, Ronald?" Luna asked airily as she linked her arm with Hermione, a short glance showed how annoyed the girl was at all the attention her boyfriend was getting.
"Well, no...but I've been trying to work up to it." Ron mumbled sheepishly. "Suppose I better hurry before all the good ones have gone." He didn't seem to notice the large group of girls turning to glare at the oblivious redhead.
"The good ones?" Hermione turned to glare at her brother, a small frown on her face.
"Don't look at me like that, 'Mione. You know exactly what I'm talking about, you've got a champion to go with. Fred's got Angelina and if George is telling the truth he's got two dates! If I don't hurry, I'll be stuck with Millie Bulstrode...or Eloise." Ron blanched as he shuddered dramatically at the thought.
"Hey! Elli is still my friend and her acne has been clearing up for ages now!" Hermione said hotly, turning her nose up at her brother.
"Well, I don't want to go to the ball with her even if she is nice to talk to sometimes...I've got my eye on someone else." Ron trailed off dreamily as he sat down and began loading his plate with food.
"Where is Elli?" Hermione asked, still staring at her brother with a frown on her face. She noticed Eloise was absent a lot after the announcement of the ball and decided she would speak to her before bed.
"I think she's been hunting for the snorkack, I saw her running out of a broom closet disheveled. It looked like she found a twilight sharpflufter." Luna said absently as she leaned her head on her best friend's shoulder.
"I thought you said snorkacks were found in Greenland?" Neville looked up from his plate curiously.
"Sweden." Harry corrected absently before he took a large bite of potatoes. His friends turned to stare at him in shock.
"I see Mina took care of those pesky wrackspurts!" Luna exclaimed happily as she beamed at the blushing redhead beside her.
"What's the cure for that then?" Ron actually put his fork down to glare at his best mate.
"Oh, it's a very len-" Luna leaned forward to explain but Hermione covered the blonde's mouth with her hand.
"Lengthy discussions about our relationship." Hermione finished for her friend quickly, an apologetic smile on her face as she released Luna's mouth. The blonde didn't seem fazed at all, only turned back to her own meal with a smirk. "Loads of them, that's why Harry and I've been hiding away...you know, uh discussing our relationship."
"Tough luck, mate. Charlie and Bill were always complaining about those. Dead boring, right?" Ron nodded sympathetically and patted his friends shoulder before turning back to his food.
"Yeah..." Harry trailed off with a bit of dreamy smile, his eyes turning to the blushing redhead. "Dreadful...but so necessary."
"What's necessary?" Eloise asked as she sat down across from Harry, looking slightly disheveled.
"'Mione's been giving Harry the 'ol relationship business." Ron supplied eagerly, his mouth full of bread and potatoes.
"Eww! Ronnie!" Hermione scrunched up her face in disgust as she tossed her napkin at her brother.
"Wha- " Ron demanded after he took a large bite of chicken, specks of food flying from his mouth.
"I swear, I'm going to write to mum if you don't swallow before speaking!" Hermione hissed in annoyance, her brother flushed as he swallowed noisily.
"Better, your majesty?" Ron asked snootily, a playful smile on his face.
"Ugh!" Hermione groaned dramatically, Luna pulled out the latest edition of the Quibbler to show her friends an interesting article on the rotfang conspiracy. The group feigned interest, Hermione and Neville being the only ones who actually paid attention to the flow of conspiracy theories Luna babbled excitedly about.
"So, why didn't you tell me you were adopted?" Eloise asked casually as she leaned forward on her elbows. She knew she said the wrong thing by her friends reactions. Ron spit his pumpkin juice all over the frozen Luna while Hermione and Harry lost all the color in their faces. Neville immediately scoffed but frowned when he saw he saw Hermione choking for air.
"Eloise, that is absolutely ridiculous!" Hermione gasped as she abruptly stood up from the table and rushed from the great hall. Harry, Ron, and Luna were quick to follow, leaving Neville and Eloise alone as their house mates turned to see what the commotion was.
"Let's go take a walk." Neville said briskly as he got up from the table and walked from the great hall at a much more sedate pace than his friends. While he wanted to chase down the others down, he felt he needed to sort out his muggleborn friend before she could tell anyone else that Hermione was adopted. Ridiculous idea, really. No family adopted.
"Umm, I'm not sure what the big idea is." Eloise said after a long silence as they wandered out to the grounds.
"Questioning a pureblood's parentage is very rude, to accuse them of being adopted is well just offensive. Even if they don't believe in blood purity, which obviously the Weasleys don't, it's still wrong to ever allude to someone doing something so...depraved." Neville said slowly in a hushed voice, not wanting to be overheard as they made their way to Black Lake.
"I wasn't accusing her...I-" Eloise quickly tried to defend herself but closed her mouth quickly, chewing her lips nervously. "Why is it so bad?"
"The pureblood houses are dwindling, adoption seemed like a viable option but some families wanted real heirs. Heirs that held the qualities of their parents so they started experiment with rituals and potions to...cleanse the child. Long story short, a lot of muggleborns were killed, then the half bloods...they banned it after someone from the Gaunt house took one of the Shafiq children and tried to adopt them." Neville said with a sneer, his hands clenched tightly in his pockets.
"So, what? No one adopts anymore?" Eloise asked slowly, scrunching up her face to try and analyze all the new information the normally mild mannered boy bestowed on her.
"They are considered wards of the house, they are treated equally but still separate...why would you say that about Hermione?" Neville turned to face the girl for the first time. He pursed his lips as he realized for the first time that she was still taller than him.
"Well...I...uh" Eloise faltered, she wanted to tell Neville the truth. He was never one to take sides and obviously he was left out of the loop along with her. However, she didn't want to lose Hermione's friendship all together by betraying her trust by repeating what she overheard in the infirmary.
"Well?" Neville demanded harshly, waving his hand impatiently.
"I overheard a conversation she had with her mother...they were with Madam Pomfrey and Mrs. Weasley was explaining that she didn't use any rictum-something potion in her adoption. I didn't think it was a big deal. I've been waiting to talk to her about it, you know try to get her to open up to me like we used to. She's always with her boyfriend and I wanted just her and I...and...ugh!" Eloise groaned in frustration as she ran a hand through her inky black hair.
"So, Hermione is adopted?" Neville asked slowly, his eyes wide with shock.
"Does it really matter?" Eloise demanded heatedly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Well..if other people found out...her family would be shunned. Not that big of a deal since the Weasleys have a proxy on the Wizengamot and they don't really spend a lot of time with the old families. Her mother would get the worst of it if she blessed her with family magic..." Neville trailed off uncomfortably.
"Why? She took in a child and cared for Hermione like she was her own! Wouldn't that warrant recognition for like a being good mother or something?" Eloise asked, competely perplexed by wizarding customs.
"I keep forgetting you weren't there for the lessons we gave Harry..." Neville mumbled sheepishly. "Well, the ritual has a chance of...killing the child. Sometimes family magic doesn't sit well or something."
"So, Mrs. Weasley could have killed Hermione?!" Eloise shrieked in horror, Neville lunged, covering the girls mouth with his hands.
"What did I just say about shunning?" Neville whispered harshly as he looked around to see some students by further down the shore looking at them curiously.
"Sorry! Why would she do that?" Eloise whispered, her shoulders drooping with shame.
"Dunno, didn't know she was adopted. I wouldn't go shouting about it if I were you...or asking her yourself. If I was adopted and you announced it in the great hall, where anyone could hear, the way you did?" Neville cringed thinking of his grandmother's response.
"I won't...do you think she will let me explain?" Eloise asked nervously, twirling a lock of hair in her fingers.
"Eh..I don't take bets on her behavior." Neville said uncomfortably, turning to the lake to avoid the girl's gaze.
-0-
"You got it, Freddie?" George whispered as they approached the kitchens. They were lucky that Winky offered her services with the potions, how the little elf procured all the ingredients, they would never know.
"Of course, Georgie!" Fred patted his robe pocket with a grin, he reached up to tickle the pear. The giant painting swung forward to reveal the large kitchen, five house tables cleared and lined up while house elves scurried around to their tasks.
"Misters Georgie and Freddie!" A low voice called out excitedly, a wizened old house elf in a pink apron stepped forward with a bright smile.
"Posy!" The twins exclaimed happily as they threw their arms open to the little elf. Posy immediately leapt at the gingers boys, hugging their legs tightly.
"What can Posy do for Posy's favorite boys?" The house elf asked eagerly.
"Well, you see we need you to slip these potions to a Slytherin, a fourth year name Draco Malfoy. Blonde hair, about yay tall and always looks like dungbombs been detonated beneath his nose." Fred said happily as he pulled the potion phials from his enlarged pocket.
"You's not be hurting baby ferret?" Posy asked cautiously but still accepted the bundle of potions.
"Nothing permanent...yet. He tried to kill our sister." George was quick to assure their favorite house elf that the punishment was justified.
"He hurts sweet Miss Mia?" Posy's wide eyes nearly popped out of her skull as she looked at the twins in horror. "Winky be knowing?"
"Yes, last month he used a very dangerous gouging curse." Fred said solemnly. "This is just round one, we got Winky to help brewing these...which should last through the year. I wouldn't worry too much about Winky, I think she's already been exacting her revenge..." A twisted smile blooming on his face as he thought of the way Malfoy could no longer strut the halls do to the itching potion Winky slipped into his laundry.
"After New Years we have phase two." George smirked, a menacing glint in his eyes as he looked down at the elf.
"Well, long as Posy not be killing..." Posy sighed and stashed the potions away. "Anything else Posy can do?"
"Anyway you could make sure he takes this one first? It makes sure that the potions bind to him...no flushing draughts should work on him." George smirked as he pulled a glass phial filled with a clear liquid from his pocket.
-0-
"How could she?" Hermione snarled as she raced to the corridor, her friends following close behind. She didn't even think that she wanted to keep Winky's corridor a secret from her brother, only that she needed to put as much space between herself and Eloise as possible.
"Err...'Mione?" Ron froze in place as he saw his friends pass through a solid stone wall. Suddenly a hand reached out and jerked him through what he was sure was a wall just moment before. He stood numbly as he took in the large open sitting room, filled with mismatched furniture and overflowing shelves. The smell of fresh bread overwhelmed him, making him feel like he was in a larger version of the burrow's den.
"Winky made it with the help of the castle elves." Luna hummed as she sat in her favorite chair to watch her best friend pace anxiously.
"-oody bint! To announce it to the entire Gryffindor table like that?! I don't think anyone heard. No one heard, right? Barmy little cunt, oh I'm going to hex her. She thought her pimples were bad just wa-" Hermione's furious ramblings were cut off by a high pitched wail that echoed through the room. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all turned with their hands over their ears to find Luna closing the golden egg, cutting off the ear splitting screech.
"I always thought you were a changeling...adoption does seem more likely." Luna sad airily as she turned her bright blue eyes on her best friend.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you but in my defense...I never told anyone." Hermione move to stand in front of the blonde, her doe eyes pleading with her best friend to believe her. Harry's awkward cough made her turn to glare at her boyfriend. "Okay, I did tell Harry but he caught me on a really bad night and he promised never to tell."
"Oh, I understand, Mina. You were protecting your mum." Luna whispered as she reached out to hug the curly headed girl. Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as she sunk down onto the couch to hug the girl closer.
"Thank you...I was so scared you would be mad at me when you did find out...how did she know?" Hermione pulled back with a worried expression on her face.
"Hopefully, Neville will be as understanding." Ron grimaced as he moved to sit on an overstuffed chair. Harry remained silent as he sat down beside his girlfriend.
"You know, the egg sounds a lot like a BillyWicket Gillslasher victim." Luna said dismissively as she gazed at the golden egg sitting on the table, not moving from her spot practically curled up in Hermione's lap.
"Really? I still think it sounds like Percy singing in the shower." Ron snorted with a mouthful of fresh bread. Hermione sneered at her brother as fleck of the crispy crust littered his uniform.
"Ronnie..." Hermione closed her eyes and breathed through her nose as Harry snickered behind his hand.
"Yes, Princess." Ron scoffed sarcastically after making a show of swallowing, he wiped the crumbs from his chest. Winky was by his side instantly, muttering under her breath about messy boys but she had a smile on her face.
"What were you saying about gillslashers. Luna?" Harry asked curiously as he watched his girlfriend snuggle with another girl, feeling a slight pang of jealousy. He was quite used to being the one to cuddle up to the redhead but he didn't think her brother would appreciate it.
"They are very small parasites that live in the water, they target talented singers." Luna hummed absently as she readjusted herself so that she could look at the messy haired boy while still sitting comfortably on top of her best friend.
"Ah! Luna! Elbow!" Hermione hissed as Luna squirmed around on her lap, quite like a cat trying to find the most comfortable position.
"Would you like me to massage it better? Although, I'm sure Harry-" Luna smiled impishly as Hermione turned crimson before she lunged at the blonde, wrapping her arms her waist as they tumbled. Harry dived out of the way as Luna's foot came perilously close to hitting him in the face and Hermione squeaked when they landed on the floor in a heap of limbs.
"Oi!" Ron exclaimed pointing towards the doorway, the others turned their heads to find Neville looking down at the girls with an arched brow.
"Should I be jealous?" Neville asked hesitantly, his face a mask of confusion. Luna just smiled brightly as Hermione lifted herself up so she straddled Luna's waist.
"Jealous?" Hermione questioned with an arched brow.
"Are you jealous?" Neville turned to Harry who was staring at the girls on the floor, heat rising on his cheeks.
"Oi! None of that!" Ron shouted, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared menacingly at the blushing boys.
"Uh-well.." Harry avoided looking at the two smirking girls on the floor and examined the egg beside him with great interest. "Gillslashers."
"Oh! They eat away at the vocal cords and mutilate them so that the singers can only entertain in mermish!" Luna smiled brightly as she wiggled out of Hermione's grip.
"So...it sounds like mermish." Ron said slowly with a bemused smile on his face.
"I never thought of that." Luna's eyes lit up with realization and she smiled brightly, looking to Neville who was still by the entrance.
"I uh talked to Eloise, explained about adoption...she won't tell anyone. She really didn't think that adoption was a big deal, seemed pretty horrified when I explained it." Neville said uncomfortably, avoiding looking at either of the redheads. "She's outside."
"Did anyone hear her?" Hermione asked apprehensively, her back stiff with tension.
"No, after you all left, we went for a walk so we wouldn't be overheard." Neville said in a strangled voice, Ron and Hermione exchanged a worried look.
"Neville, mate...you going to sit?" Harry asked with a slight frown, he knew that Neville was particularly disgusted with the notion of adoption when he was explaining it to him. However, he was the most levelheaded out of everyone in their group of friends so he assumed Neville would take the information in stride.
"No, I'm going to head up at the common room." Neville shook his head quickly, sparing a glance to Luna on the floor beside Hermione. "If you want I can bring Eloise back to Gryffindor tower with me if you don't want to talk to her."
"No, I'll talk to her." Hermione said quickly, disentangling herself from Luna and rushing out the door without a backwards glance. Eloise was leaning against the wall, awkwardly looking up and down the hall as if waiting for someone. When she saw Hermione in front of her, her blue eyes widened and she flushed, looking down at her feet.
"Hi." Eloise grimaced as she looked back up at her best friend, she took a deep breath before continuing in a soft voice. "Adoption isn't a bad thing in the muggle world...but I understand why you didn't tell me. I'm sorry if you thought I was trying to embarrass you or get your family shunned. I just overheard you walking to your mum and I was curious about your birth family. I wondered if maybe you were a muggleborn like me or a pureblood or a half blood then Neville told me that it was really rude to-"
"Eli!" Hermione snapped, cutting her off from her rant. She was surprised Eloise could say so much in only one breath.
"I'm really sorry! We just started to be normal again and I bugger it up...trying to get back to being best friends. I mean we used to spend all our time together. Last year we were attached at the hip and now your dating Harry. Always disappearing with him and Luna hates me for what happened over the summer. Ron only wants to talk about chess and quidditch and one day he started talking about girls with me! I mean, I didn't mind so much but it was like he forgot I was even a girl or something. Then, Neville! Neville of all people scol-"
"Eli!" Hermione exclaimed loudly, her voice echoing off the walls of the empty corridor. Eloise shut her mouth with an audible snap and focused her tear filled blue eyes on the redhead. "I don't really know what to say...I mean, were you really eavesdropping on a private conversation in the healers office?"
"No! Harry just said you went to the hospital wing so I rushed to see if you were okay. I only heard the last bit then your mum asked about and Harry and I left." Eloise said quickly to defend herself, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "Then I was curious, I kept thinking about it...you are so much more curious about the muggle world than other purebloods. Like your father loves muggles but his understanding of them is at a toddler level, no offense. Other purebloods kind of scoff when muggleborns talk about the muggle world like it's beneath them but you actually listen and ask all kinds of questions...so I thought-" Eloise trailed off sheepishly as she saw the annoyed look on Hermione's face.
"Even if I don't believe in blood hierarchy nonsense, it's still incredibly insulting to question one's purity. I'm not going to tell you why I was adopted or anything else on the subject with you. I like you, Eli. We were once very good friends but that...I think by what Harry says it's like walking up to someone and questioning their race or something." Hermione as she saw the dawning realization on her eyes and nodded.
"So, you don't trust me?" Eloise fought to keep her voice even, to not show the hurt but she obviously failed seeing the frown on Hermione's face.
"Would you? I'm not going to sit here and berate you on your choices but think about how you've been treating me since last term. I would not willingly trust anyone with this, Elli." Hermione scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned heavily on her left leg, jutting out her hip. She grit her teeth as the temptation to just cut all ties with the girl surfaced agin, it would be so much easier than dealing with her mood swings. The thought of the painfully shy girl who couldn't speak to anyone, hiding away in the library and flinching away from classmates in the halls helped push those thoughts aside. She knew that Luna and Harry would follow her lead, actually Luna wood lead the charge and drag Ron and Neville away from the girl.
"I suppose..." Eloise whispered sheepishly, looking down in shame.
"I forgave you but you never forgave me. If you can let this go, we can go back to being friends. I'll meet you in the library on Monday if you can do that." Hermione said sternly and turned to go back to the corridor with her friends, leaving Eloise standing alone.
-0-0-0-
I'm sorry that I haven't been updating daily. I'm stuck on the Yule Ball but I have chapters leading up to and including the second task finished! So...patience please?
Of course, Eloise was the one that overheard the conversation! Who else?