Sly Fox

Star-crossed lovers

Elle was walking the hallways that would lead her to the library with her head in her thoughts when her family came to mind, and she remembered she had not sent them a letter over Christmas. Everything with the tournament, and the ball, had made her forget about her life outside of the castle walls. Instead of heading to the library, she turned her heels and set off to the owlery.

She missed her mother and brother dearly. Elle also missed her father, but their relationship had always been different from those of her other family members. She grabbed her quill and ink from her bag and started to write on a piece of parchment. Scribbling down everything that had happened in the last months, she felt her hand begin to ache and decided it was enough for this letter.

Once she was done, she sealed the letter and went over to her owl Henry. Elle remembered when she and Harry were younger. They had joked that their owls were siblings due to their similar names. She laughed slightly at the memory, seeing now that their owls do not look anything close to being siblings. His owl, Hedwig, was a white snow owl. Hers was brown and almost fluffy. She gave the letter to Henry, who took it between his beak.

"Take this to mother and Noah, please," she said and watched her owl fly away.

Elle's feet set off towards the library once more. It was nice to see that many people had stayed at Hogwarts over the break due to the ball on Christmas Eve. In the far, she could see her three Slytherin friends standing in the corridor in front of her. Though Malfoy was with them, standing with his back leaning against the wall.

She sent her friends a subtle smile when she passed them but did not get far before she was stopped.

"Well, if it isn't Potter's little girlfriend," Malfoy's voice sounded through the corridor. Elle sighed and turned around. 

"When are you going to stop making up your little stories?" She said and sent him a glare.

"Stories? I don't know about you, but I take what is in the newspaper as news," he said, a smirk growing on his face as he lifted the newspaper he was holding.

"What are you on about?" She said, confused. Glancing over to Pansy and the two other boys, they sent her uncertain smiles, making her even more confused.

Malfoy opened up the folded newspaper and cleared his throat.

"The star-crossed lovers of Hogwarts." He began.

"It is indeed sad to see the desperate young girl, Elle Fox, jumping into the arms of her lover, Harry Potter, before he is about to risk his life in the first task of the Triwizards Tournament. How refreshing to see that their endless love is not affected by the threats lurking-"

"Give me that," she cut him off and snatched the paper out of his hands. She looked at the front page, blood boiling in her veins, and marched towards the great hall to find her friends.

The article went on with theories of a love triangle between her, Harry, and Cedric, and as she reached the great hall, she saw her friends seated by the Gryffindor table.

"Look at this," she said and slammed the paper down on the table.

They all looked at the front page with the big picture of her and Harry hugging before his first task.

"She is unbelievable," Harry huffed in disbelief.

"'Star-crossed lovers, '" Hermione read.
"That is worse than what she wrote for Victor and me," she scoffed.

Elle looked at her with a sad smile. She hated Rita Skeeter; she would have hunted her down by now if she hadn't had other things to worry about. Hermione, however, had planned on doing very much so. As the four Gryffindors were talking, the twins came up behind them.

"The famous star-crossed lovers," George said.

"No need to be angry at us," Fred chipped in once he saw the glare sent from the group.

"Anyways, we were thinking we could have a small gathering," George said.

"To get your minds off that mug article," Fred finished, pointing to the article lying flat on the table.

"We have fire whiskey," they both beamed.

Later that day, they all found themselves in the Gryffindor common room. Fred and George had invited a lot more people than expected. Elle went over to the table with beverages to grab a glass for Hermione and herself. According to her, you should drink much if you are going to drink at all. So she grabbed two glasses and filled them with fire whisky.

"Mi lady," she said and handed the glass to her friend.

"Elle!" She said when she saw the glass filled to the brim.

"What? If we are drinking, then we are drinking," she said firmly.

They both took a chug from their glasses and felt the fire whisky burn in their throats as it went down. Elle sat down next to Dean Thomas, who was bickering with Seamus about something. They stopped when she sat down and turned their heads toward her. They asked her about the article, and she scolded them, saying they should know better than to believe a report from Rita Skeeter. After a while, a game of 'would you rather' had started, and Elle felt herself getting tipsy from the alcohol she had consumed.

"Would you rather have detention with McGonagall every day for the rest of the semester or spend a whole day with the Slytherins?" Ron said to the group.

Everybody burst out laughing, thinking it was the worst alternative yet—everyone except Elle.

"I don't believe they are that bad," she said, and everybody was silent.

"Elle, they have been the worst to you, and Harry" Ron exclaimed in shock.

"I know, but they have been better lately," She outed, and they all looked at her like she had gone mad.

"Look, I'm not saying that what they have done is okay, but-" she started but got interrupted by Ron again.

"I bloody hope you don't," he said, and Elle sent him a glare.

"But-" she continued, "I know how my dad is. He has always tried to convey his opinions and views to me. Luckily, my mother knows better and has taught me not to listen to his ideas," she said. Everybody was now quiet, listening to her.

"I can only imagine how I would have turned out if I did not have anyone telling me that those opinions were wrong. I would have been the same as them." She said and looked at her friends.

"With that said, I'm not trying to justify their actions; just explain that these prejudiced thoughts are the only thing they have known since they were born," she finished.

Elle could see how her common Gryffindors were considering her words. She did not know why she felt the need to protect the Slytherins, maybe it was her newly found friends, or perhaps it was something else.

"I think you are right," Hermione said to break the silence, "I haven't talked to many of them, but I quite like Pansy."

Elle looked at her friend and sent her a smile that said 'thank you.'

"It's official," Ron stated, "You have gone mad, you two," he said and laughed slightly.

Elle rolled her eyes and let the game continue. Thankfully, there were no other comments about the Slytherins.

The alcohol had now fully hit her body, and she was dancing across the room with Hermione. It was going quite well, considering the state they both were in. Hand in hand, they whizzed from one side of the room to the other. Before they could reach the other end, Hermione's foot got stuck in the carpet, and they both fell face forward to the ground. The two girls burst out laughing on the floor, making everyone's worried faces form into snickers and laughs as well. Elle was lying there on the floor, thinking about how grateful she was for her friends. Once again, reminding herself that she would do anything to keep them safe.