She's Golden // Fred Weasley

6

A few months later have passed. It was now December and Elodie had made yet another best friend. Imogen had sat with her for every meal, helped her study for the homeworks she never understood, and shared a lot of interests. Imogen and Elodie have made their friendship known. Everyone knew that if you saw Elodie, you'd most likely see Imogen right by her side. The twins would always try to hang out with them or ask for their help with a prank, but lately, Elodie's mind has been focused on her mother, the tests coming up before Christmas break, and the forest. She had snuck to the Forbidden Forest a few times these past months. Centaurs watching her carefully, but knowing she didn't mean harm. Elodie felt at peace when she went to the forest. She trusted the animals with her life.

"I think I'm gonna go study in the common room tonight. Would you like to join me?" Imogen asked Elodie. They were currently in potions, and Snape kept giving another Hufflepuff a rough time. "Yeah, I'll go after dinner." Elodie responded, looking at the young, puff across the room. He looked so embarrassed. Elodie felt bad.

"If you cannot answer me, Diggory, I won't hesitate to remove five points from Hufflepuff." Professor Snape said, in his aggressive tone he used on students. "I-I'm sorry, sir. I really don't know." He said. "Hm. Pity." Snape replied, storming away. Luckily, he didn't actually take away points. Class was then dismissed and Elodie wanted to talk to the boy. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Elodie asked the brunette. He looked at her and gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm alright, thanks." He replied. He's never met an American before. He stuck his hand out like an adult formally would, and said, "Diggory. Cedric Diggory." "Elodie Jian." She replied, sticking her hand out and smiling. She didn't know why they hadn't met sooner. His dorm was right across from hers and sometimes she would see that he'd be studying on the couch by the fire. They split up and Elodie found Imogen.

"So, did you just find yourself a boyfriend?" Imogen asked, a smirk plastered on her face. Elodie's eyes widened, and she hit Imogen's shoulder playfully. "No, I haven't. I'm only 11. Plus, I just felt bad for the dude." Elodie said. Imogen was laughing at how American she sounded once she slipped a 'dude' in her sentence. They laughed and talked, and eventually found themselves in front of the barrels. Classes were over and it was Friday. She had a week left of school before Christmas. Her mom wrote to her letting her know that she's very excited to see her over break, but that was in October. She needed to go back to the forest tonight. She let Imogen know with a code they made up, since Professor Sprout was in the common room, looking for something she had left on accident the night before. Imogen winked at her and stood up, talking to Sprout as a distraction.

Elodie had finally made it past the courtyard and ran towards Hagrid's hut. She waved at him through the tiny little window on the side of it, and he returned her a wink. She skipped the rest of the way to the forest, where the same unicorn would greet her each time she came to this forest. Elodie smiled at it, and began walking to the tree she would read her mother's last letter at.
Once she arrived, she sat down and watched the creatures slowly circle her. She spoke out loud, "Hi guys! I'm back. Hopefully it isn't too much of a bad time. Clara had let me in, after all. If it's not a good time I'll leave." Elodie said, referring to the previous unicorn as Clara. The creatures shook their heads no as she began to stand, making her sit back down and smile. Once she smiled, the animals seemed to be at ease.

She opened the letter, and silently read:

"My dearest Flower,

I hope you have had an amazing experience at Hogwarts. Does Professor Sprout still teach there? She was one of my favorites.
How is the Hufflepuff common room?
Have you met anyone interesting?

Dad and I haven't really been getting along since you left, so I've been sleeping in your room. Nice pillows, by the way. Very comfy. Hopefully in just two months we can have sleepovers together. I'm so excited to see my beautiful girl again. You're gonna have so many presents when you come home.

With love,
Momma bear x"

Elodie didn't realize she was crying until a wolf had crept up to her, licking the tear off her face. Elodie giggled and turned to the dog-like creature. She started petting him and spoke. "Hello, Lupo." She said. She had named him Lupo because it means 'the wolf' in Italian. She was currently reading "A Guide to a Different Language" book for her charms class. She didn't exactly need it, but a fifth year puff told her one day, she might need to sneak a charm on somebody in a different language. She thought the idea was brilliant, so she began reading the book.

He was all black, and had yellow eyes. She thought since he was the biggest wolf she's seen, that he was the leader. The only reason creatures didn't even think about attacking her was because Magorian, the lead centaur, told them that she means no harm. He's never acquainted her, but would always watch her from afar. He saw how spirited she was, and shared his forest with her. Maybe one day, he would be interested in talking to her. Elodie knew about him, she caught him starring once, but ran off. It has happened a few times, actually. Lupo had brought her a stick, and she threw it saying she didn't want any gifts at the moment. He ran for it, bringing it back. Elodie then realized it wasn't a gift, it was a game.

An Hour Later-

"I'm back." Elodie yelled, opening the heavy wooden door to her dorm. She waited for a response, then saw Imogen in the bathroom brushing her teeth. "Hey" Imogen said with a toothbrush in her mouth. Elodie giggled and said "Hi."

Elodie felt that she should change into something comfier for dinner. She dug through her drawer and put on her favorite muggle sweatshirt that was a pastel orange and it said ' p i n k ' written on the back. She put on a pair of black leggings and changed her socks to fluffy ones with another muggle brand called 'Vans'. She was all ready and of course, she needed to put lipgloss on. Elodie loved her mom's makeup, so her mom bought her a new lipgloss every 3rd of the month. She brought four of them with her, and tonight it was a glossy pink. Imogen said she looked like a seventh year. Yet, Imogen ended up wearing Elodie's other sweatshirt and some lipgloss, herself. The two girls had made their way down to the Great Hall, earning some looks on their attire, but not bad looks.

"Oh my god- oh- my- MERLIN!" Elodie said, rushing to the table. "WHAT?" Imogen said concerned. "They have pudding!" Elodie said, in the most childish voice she could produce. A smile that could run a marathon on her face. "You scared me." Imogen said, rolling her eyes. They sat down and began to eat. Elodie had at least three bowls of pudding. She had chocolate on her face and wasn't aware. Imogen had too much fun looking at it to tell her. They remembered they had to get some studying in before bed, so Elodie stood up and asked Imogen if she was ready, and is she had anything on her face. "Yeah I'm ready....and, nope." Imogen said smiling. They got to the barrels and Elodie got her wand out and tapped the barrels. They entered and saw Cedric on the couch that they were going to study on.

"Oh, hey Cedric" Elodie said smiling down at him. He looked up from his book and saw Elodie and Imogen standing there. Imogen coughed, catching their attention. Cedric cleared his throat and spoke,
"I can go, I uh was just finishing the last bit of my Transfiguration paper." He said hesitantly. Elodie told him he was fine, and they could sit on the floor. Imogen started whispering to her saying how they should be on the couch, not him. Elodie bickered back, and they walked closer to him and both stopped and smiled. They sat on the floor and opened Potions homework.

"Isn't it bloody mental how Snape thinks we can get this ten page assignment done by tomorrow?" Imogen said, huffing. Elodie laughed at her. They continued on until the last question. They were yawning and slowly falling asleep. Then, they heard a loud crash.

"Sorry.." Melvin said from across the room. He was a second year and was making a potion for Snape, but apparently he missed something and it blew up.
"It's okay. We should get to bed now, anyways. Thanks Melvin." Elodie said laughing. Imogen grabbed her stuff and caught up to Elodie walking towards their shared dorm. Elodie waved by to Cedric and opened the door. All she had to do was take her socks and shoes off, lipgloss already faded, and slip under her covers. 'I'm gonna write to mom tomorrow, seeing if she's okay.' Elodie thought.

"Night, El." Imogen said. "Night, Gen."

Then her thoughts went quiet, and knew she was now asleep.