𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕔𝕪 ⟡ ᴊᴀᴍᴇs ᴘᴏᴛᴛᴇʀ¹

twenty: the first date

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

THE HOGWARTS PROFESSORS all sat around a large table, eagerly awaiting the new information. "Has there been any updates, Minerva?" Dumbledore questioned, adjusting his glasses. She frowned. "I cannot be certain. I have seen them together but I have also witnessed her interactions with Jaxon Rowle"

"And rumor has it, Mason Burke and Ella Macmillan are together" Binns added, looking around at everyone with wide eyes. Most of the table groaned. Slughorn and Mcgonagall were the only two to bet on James, and if Mason was in fact with Ella, everyone else would have already lost.

"This is outrageous!" Sprout exclaimed, shaking her head. "Yeah! Outrageous!" Flitwick repeated, pounding his fist against the table. They all turned their heads to look at him in confusion. He sunk back into his chair, huffing loudly. "Interesting" Dumbledore noted, stroking his beard to show that he was thinking.

"I believe we must wait until we can gather further and more accurate intel" he continued. "Minerva, you are close with the Potter boy, yes?" She tilted her head, but nodded nonetheless. "I suppose" she replied, pursing her lips.

"See if he is willing to talk with you. Perhaps information you can dig out of him" She nodded in response. "Well, until then we must stay confident in our bets. It is never over until anything is official" A collective sound of grunts and noises were all that he gathered from the rest of the professors, most of their spirits ruined due to the news.

"I will see you all at the next meeting"

✰ ✰ ✰

Ella Macmillan was one of a kind. A practical needle in a haystack. While most of her fellow Slytherins were known to be rude, snide, and downright cruel, she's always been quite the opposite... kind of. She could be rude if she wanted to be. And if you messed with her friends or even herself, she wasn't going to just let it go. She wasn't one to be walked over.

But she was lively. Upbeat. She let her spirit guide and carry her wherever it wanted to go. Her family were all death eaters, but she's never wanted to be one. Similar to Lyra, she never really bought into the whole idea of pureblood supremacy. She honestly gave zero shits about what other people's blood was comprised of. She just wanted to live.

She's learned not to take what she has for granted, though. She had an arguably good life. She's never had to worry about money or dirty looks, never had to worry about being mistreated at all. Her blood ensured that.

But she's lived a life that she doesn't want. One that she can't see herself having a future in. So when she read the letter her parents had sent stating that there were plans in motion about her possible entry into the official world of death eaters the next summer, right after she graduated, it made her absolutely sick to her stomach.

She didn't realize it was going to be this fast. She was actually hoping that there would be a way out for her, but after reading that letter, she knew that there wasn't. That there never was in the first place. The gears in her head began to turn, and she knew that if she wanted out she was going to have to find a way, or at least make one herself. Even if it was going to be the very last thing she ever did. At least it was going to be on her terms.

So she crumpled that piece of parchment, tossing it into the fire place of the common room as she adjusted her robes, and pushed past the portrait door. She kept her chin up, head held high, and took pride in the sound of her heels clicking against the stone floor. Ella Macmillan was a force to be reckoned with.

And she'd go to hell first before backing down.

✰ ✰ ✰

Lyra pulled at her coat, shivering lightly as she stepped foot outside of the castle. James had left her a note saying to meet him outside in the courtyard ten minutes before dinner. She smiled as she saw her breath physically form in front of her face, that particular aspect of winter always being her favorite. She folded her arms across her chest as she walked, biting her bottom lip as nerves began to eat away at her.