If I May Be So Bold (A Harry Potter Universe Fanfiction)

17.

October 2034

JAMES

Elise brought Ella back to the school in the morning as promised. Ella said good morning and gave him a hug, but that was all he got out of her before she said she needed to hurry up and get ready for class.

When she'd gone, Elise sat down in one of his chairs and covered her hand with her mouth. "She talked to me," she said, voice muffled behind her hand.

"Yeah, what exactly is going on?" James asked. "I'm kind of in the dark here."

"Look, I'll explain everything later. She's fine. She's amazing actually. But I just... can I have a minute to just soak this in." She shut her eyes. "James. She talked to me. I mean really, seriously opened up to me and like... trusted me with something. I just feel like I finally broke through with her."

James wanted to be jealous. He really did. But he couldn't let himself. He knew how much this meant to Elise. He had known it as soon as Ella showed up in his office asking for her. He had known it as soon as he'd found her and told her "she's asking for you." Elise wasn't usually of a mind to drop what she was doing at work, but she had canceled the rest of the meetings she had that afternoon without a second thought.

Her eyes were filling up with tears now, but she was smiling. "I didn't completely screw it up," she said. "She doesn't totally hate me."

"You never thought she hated you," James said, sitting beside her. He put a hand on her back and rubbed up and down.

"I just can't believe she talked to me," she repeated. "All night, I just kept thinking, oh my god. This is what it's like to really know my daughter. This is what it's like to be her friend."

Elise went on like this for so long James didn't think he was ever going to get the story of what really happened out of her. When she tried to leave for work without explaining anything whatsoever, he had to put a stop to it. "Hang on, hang on," he said. "I still don't even know what happened. Why was she in here crying?"

Elise sighed. "Listen, I'll tell you some of it, but I'm not going to go into a huge amount of detail, because it's Ella's story and she can tell you if she chooses to."

"Well that's not fair. I always told you the stuff she told me."

"This is different," Elise said. "There was a boy she thought she might like, and no I'm not going to tell you who, because you're his teacher. But there was this boy and he tried to put her in a situation she wasn't comfortable with and she stuck up for herself. She just had her feelings hurt by a stupid kid. She's okay now. She's tough. And I'm really, really proud of the things she said to him. You would be, too."

"Well, I'm sure I would be if I knew what it was," James grumbled. "He didn't try to take advantage of her, did he?"

Elise shook her head. "She's fine, James. Honestly. She's got a lot of self-respect. She wouldn't have let him take advantage of her. And he's out of the picture now anyway."

"Just tell me who he is. I can probably guess anyway."

But Elise just shook her head. "Ella will tell you herself if she wants you to know. I've already told you more than she wanted me to."

"Is it Henry Parker?"

She reached out to straighten the collar of James' robes. "I have to get to work. I have a meeting in ten minutes."

Her face gave nothing away.

"We're not done discussing this," James said.

Elise smiled, kissed him, and left.

—-

As soon as morning break rolled around, James was out the door, right on the heels of second years who'd just left his classroom.

He strolled straight into the hospital wing, sank down on the couch in Raigan's office, and covered his eyes with his forearm. "Raigan, what do I do? Ella's interested in boys."

She laughed. "I don't think this is exactly news."

James tried to relay to her the events of the past twenty four hours, but as he didn't exactly understand them himself, he didn't do a very thorough job of it and couldn't answer any of her questions which was incredibly frustrating.

Raigan sat down beside him. "You know what I think?" she asked.

"What?"

"That everything is going to be just fine and Ella's going to be fine and you're going to be fine. You've been through this with Piper and look at you now. You can actually have a conversation with the guy and look him in the eye everything even though you know he kisses her. That's serious growth."

James had to laugh a little at that, although this was not really an exaggeration.

"Ella knows herself. She's a smart girl. She's not going to let anyone walk all over her. And I bet you anything, if she's really interested in someone and she feels good about it, she will tell you. Ella trusts you more than anyone."

"I don't think she feels good about this one, just judging by how she was crying and all," said James. "I bet you anything it was Henry freaking Parker. I told you he was up to something."

"You don't know if it was him or not, so don't go taking house points or anything rash," said Raigan.

But James did know. He knew it in his gut. And he was going to get confirmation out of Elise that night. He wouldn't rest until she gave in and told him.

He went on for a while, whining about being kept in the dark while Raigan listened looking amused, and then he stopped himself. He thought about Elise's face that morning just after Ella left the room and he knew he shouldn't have been complaining at all.

"It made Elise's entire year that Ella asked for her," he said without preamble.

Raigan smiled. "You know how many times I told her this would happen?"

"A fraction of how many times I told her," said James darkly, and Raigan laughed.

"She really is a good mum," Raigan said quietly. "I just wish she saw it how we do."

"I think she's starting to," James agreed.