The Language of Flowers | Fred Weasley

12: B R I E R S - envy

"Ellie was literally this far...this far from a dragon! A real dragon!" Katie emphasizes, holding her arms shoulder-width apart. I shake my head at her, she's already exaggerating the story and we just got back a few minutes ago.

We happened to missed a few more classes than we planned, but it was completely worth it. Instead of going back to class Fred, George, and Katie decided to play Quittich. It was quite entertaining to watch the three of them play a seven person game. I sat on the bench, watching them fly low to avoid attention and attempt to play the game without balls. I haven't laughed so hard in awhile.

"Wow, that's amazing." Joanna snaps sarcastically. My cheeks flush and I frown, looking down at the table. I didn't think she'd be too mad. Her body language is tense, her fists balled at her side. This is not going to end well. When Joanna's mad, it's never a pretty sight.

"You'll see them tomorrow, it will be alright." Katie contorts, rolling her eyes at Jo. I clear my throat, the tension at this table just grew exponentially.

We had been whispering, because only a few people knew about the dragons. And by a few, I mean the Weasleys and us from what I could tell. I guess that's the perks of having older siblings.

Joanna scoffs, standing up. She looks at me for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to say something. I raise an eyebrow and she smirks slightly. "Your little boyfriend was over here looking for you earlier." And with that, she saunters out of the Great Hall. There is a moment of silence before we all let out a collective breath, then we all start talking at the same time.

Katie tries to meet my eye but I look away nervously, she can read me like a book.

"Boyfriend? What boyfriend?" Fred enquires.

"I don't have a boyfriend! What is she talking about, María?" I laugh nervously, trying to keep from completely overreacting. Joanna knows I don't have a boyfriend. She knows that for the moment Andre and I are only friends.

"I knew you guys were dating!" Hermione grins, nodding her head as if this makes perfect sense. I ignore Hermione's statement, tugging at my uniform. The room just became a hundred times hotter. Everyone else around us begins talking all at the same time and I want to run.

When everyone has stopped chattering over each other, María fills us in. "Well that Frrench boy came around earlier today asking about you and Joanna told him that you had a headache or something and that's why you were missing earlier." María doesn't even look up from her book as she says this but I stare at her with wide eyes.

"Lloyd came asking for me!?" My pulse flutters and I try not to blush. It's not very often I get attention from boys, or at least boys that I like. Last year, Cormac asked me out but I refused. "Should I go over and talk to him?" I ask, smoothing down my hair. I can't believe he was asking for me! I know we are friends but I had thought it was only whenever we ran into each other.

"No! Are you crazy? You have got to play hard to get, Ellie. Merlin's beard, I thought you were better than this." Katie groans, rolling her eyes at me. "I mean truly, we've been through this before."

"No we haven't. That was Adhera, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Katie laughs, "speaking of Adhera. Where is she?"

"She's over there with Pierre." María adds. I turn to look at them, my eyes scanning the Ravenclaw table. My eyes catch Andre's and he smiles at me. I smile back, turning back around slowly. I can't deny that he is attractive. The problem is that I've only known him for less than a month. That is way too soon to be in love, or to even start dating someone.

I run my hand through my hair before resting my head on the table. My cheek is pressed against the cold of the wood, calming me, and I close my eyes, listening to the sounds around me. Thankfully, most of the Gryffindors have lost interest in my love life, seeing as I'm not going to do anything about it at this very moment. This school year is so much different than any other. I usually don't have to deal with boy problems!

I do always have to deal with Joanna problems though, and that should be my number one priority at the moment. "I'll be right back!" I say, standing up quickly. I practically trip as I make my way out of the Great Hall but manage to catch myself, speeding around students leaving the hall.

I'm such a horrible friend! I have to find her, but where would Joanna go? She has a different spot for everything. When she's sad, happy, or just wants to be alone(as rarely as that happens). When she's upset, though, there's one place she goes every thing.

By the time I reach the owlery, my lungs feel like burning ice and my whole body is cramping worse than a pregnant woman. My effort is worth it though, because low and behold, there is Joanna, surrounded by owls. She's scowling as she strokes a pretty snowy owl. My gut twists at the sight. I didn't think too much about not staying with her and instead going on an adventure. I mean, I knew she was a little upset but I didn't think it was to the extent that she would try and say something to embarrass me like that in front of a group. Cleary, she is that upset and Joanna will hold grudges for years if you don't handle it correctly.

I clear my throat, and Joanna's scowl grows even deeper at the sight of me. "Hey," I say quietly, walking over to my owl, Cosmo. He gives a soft hoot, nipping lightly at my fingers. Joanna says nothing, and let out a deep sigh. I hate doing this. I honestly wanted to apologize but I'm now going from embarrassed to a bit frustrated. "Look, I didn't think that it would be a big deal. I am sorry. If you want, I can go bring you to see the dragons now. We can make a fun little journey out of it."

"Its too late, Elowen."

"Oh come on, not the full name! You said you were okay with me going with Katie. I would have thought you'd have wanted me to go instead of miss out on something like that."

"Well of course I would. What you didn't have to do was shove it in my face that you got to do something fun and I didn't!" Joanna yells, startling me.

"I didn't!" I hold my hands up in an attempt to signal peace. It doesn't work because Joanna turns away from me again. "I recalled the events as they happened for you because I thought it would intrigue you. There's no need to act like this!" I retort, trying to keep from yelling. Joanna's being irrational, what does she want me to do? Its not like I can go back in time and change what happens.

"Yes there is. Best friends are supposed to do everything together, right!?"

"Best friends don't have to do everything together. Sometimes we need a little break from each other." I remind her of this so often that I should get us a matching tattoo, right on our foreheads.

I sigh loudly, hoping Joanna hears me. I hate being a teenager sometimes. Especially when it comes with girl drama. And this doesn't even have to do with boys! It has to do with me doing something on my own. I admit, we should have brought Joanna with us or gone at a later time but she is making too big a deal out of this. My cool is slowly boiling and I'm about to pop.

"Whatever. While you were out having fun and touching dragons, I was actually in our classes. We've got quite a lot of homework, I just thought you should know, even though homework is too lowly for you now. And Snape took twenty points from our house because you weren't there, he said he's giving you detention the day after the First task." Joanna sneers, before leaving the room, her loud footsteps echoing around me.

Great, I've got detention with Snape.

"That's mean!" I call after her, not really caring if she hears me or not. I stand there for a few minutes, contemplating about my next moves. I could follow after her and continue the argument, that's what I want to do. I'm now angry and I hate being angry over night. I'm always afraid the person's going to die the next day. Or I could just forgive and forget, she'll come to her senses tomorrow.

That's what I'll do, what I have to do. I'll wait it out until she's not so emotional and angry and we can solve the problem then. I nod to myself, giving Cosmo one last pet before heading back down the stairs, a skip in my step.

Joanna and I have been through this before and we'll go through it again, our friendship doesn't falter.

Tomorrow will be a big day. I hope by morning, Joanna is forgiving or it will be one long week.