The Girl Who Lived

Wildest Dreams

June 13th, 1996
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Nothing had ever felt so strange in Elena's life than the past two days.

After recovering for the rest of the day in the infirmary, Fred had stayed at her side the entire time, only leaving the room when Daphne had washed Elena's hair and massaged the areas where Madam Pomfrey and the healers had poked.

Malfoy hadn't made an appearance for the rest of the day or night. It hurt her more than it should've.

The next day, there had been no sign of him. But Elena had given up looking because the whole blasted day, Fred had been at her side. Once again, she had suffered to hopefully save Malfoy.

If she died, he would be wrecked. If she died again, he wouldn't make it out. She would rather put that burden on someone who had prepared for it rather than on Malfoy.

It was Thursday today, a stormy day out. A perfect day by Elena's standards. The rain had not yet begun but she could smell it- feel it in her bones. Although she had rarely been outside, she could still smell it the moment she had woken up and stretched her arms upwards.

Even if half of the soul bond had grown a bit cold, it still had been a lovely morning.

She had woken up, showered, done her makeup and picked out her outfit for today- baggy high waisted jeans and one of Sirius's old band t-shirts, a Black Sabbath one. She had walked down with Ginny, who was still doting on her since the incident, and ate breakfast with her and Hermione. She had looked for Malfoy but she hadn't seen him so she let Daphne take her by the arm and guide her to their first class together.

All morning, she hadn't been able to focus particularly when Fred had been waiting for her outside of every one of her classes. He walked her everywhere and somewhere inside of her heart, she felt grateful that someone was looking out for her like this, even if she didn't feel the way she had before. It just wasn't the same as it was.

The couple had eaten lunch together and Fred had been gazing at Katie Bell the entire time, barely speaking to Elena unless another roped her into the conversation. She had noticed his stares and had even noted the ones Katie returned.

It was a shame Elena had grown a bit irritated, she happened to like Katie very much.

It was late in the afternoon, the storm continuously building up to reach it's peak. She hated it- the storm. It reminded her far too much of Malfoy and right now, thinking about him felt like a slap in the face.

She deserved to feel like this. She deserved to feel absolutely awful for forgiving a man who would never change, no matter how much time passed. She deserved to free Malfoy from her mess.

"Lena?" Fred had been speaking to her. She hadn't heard anything he had said or paid any attention to the entire conversation at hand. She just knew that they were in the library corridor, surrounded by their friends and people who she knew. "Lover, you alright?"

Never had she felt as if she could time travel until now when she had heard that name. It was pathetic, really. Her- not the same. Being associated with the name as if she deserved to have Fred's love after everything she had done. All of the blood she had on her hands and the lives she had ripped away.

You jump, I jump.

"I'm fine, sorry." Elena relaxed her tense hand in his. The feeling of warm calloused hands had never felt so strange before. She had grown used to the cold. To the delicate feeling of silky skin. "Just got carried away."

Elena looked up and noted the people she was walking with, the people around her. She had been with Fred, George and Ron and she couldn't name all of the people in the hallway. She didn't care about them, she just wanted to ground herself. Keep herself breathing.