✰Never Speak Ill of the Dead✰

The Girls Are Fighting (Ellie)

Ellie Pov

September 1, 2021

As I got onto the train, I traced my hand over the paper that was hidden in my pocket. It had instructions on how to get into the Room of Requirement. Rose told us that when we needed to meet at school, we would meet there because we couldn't go to her lab.

I then had time to think about my magic and how it worked. I had managed to turn a puddle in the park into steam when I was working with Hugo. It sort of shocked me. I hadn't expected it to work, let alone be that easy.

I was glad I got to spend more time with Hugo, though. He was a nice kid, and we rarely got to see each other. I didn't speak with his friends often, mostly because Lily Potter has a way of pissing off every person she meets. She has a history of hating people for no reason and getting them to hate her right back. At least, that's what happened with two of my friends. Alessia and I never had a problem with her, but Sally and Annie despised her. I didn't know much about the rest of his friends. We tended to avoid that friend group like a plague because of Lily.

But of course, at that moment, none other than Lily Potter opened the compartment doors. She was trailed by her usual gang of misfits and idiots. I looked up at her as she sat across from me, and all the others filed in and sat down.

"Hello?" I questioned.

"Hi. We are going to sit with you." She stated. It wasn't a question; she didn't even bother to ask if that was ok.

"That's fine, but I was saving those seats for my friends." I said politely.

"They can sit here too. It's a big compartment." She didn't seem to see any problem with this. I suspected that she had forgotten who my friends were. I looked at Hugo anxiously. He seemed confused, so I decided to drop it.

"Wait, why are we sitting here again?" Lysander asked.

"To be friendly. Since she has been introduced to a few of us, I thought it would be nice for us to get to know each other more." She smiled and looked back at me.

"Oh, that's... sweet." I said.

As if right on cue, Sally appeared at the compartment door. She opened it, about to speak to me before she saw Lily. Both girls' eyes immediately narrowed.

"You." Sally muttered.

"What are you even doing here? Are you here to torment me?" Lily accused.

"No. I'm here because you stole my friend." Sally spat back. I had the sudden urge to shrink into the seat behind me.

"Your friend? You guys are friends?" Lily looked at me, shocked.

"Yes." I said. Lily looked like she was seconds away from exploding.

"You know what it's fine. At least it can't get any worse." Lily said. She was dead wrong.

"Sally, why are you standing out in the hall? Get in the compartment." I heard Annie's voice from behind Sally. She then looked past Sally and saw Lily sitting just next to the door.

"Well, there seems to be a roach in this compartment." Sally said, eyeing Lily. Annie laughed.

"The only roaches here are you." Lily said. "And this is my compartment, so you are the problem."

"Actually—" I started but was cut off by more fighting.

The rest of us were watching the argument like a tennis match. At some point, Lucy had whipped out her phone and started filming. I expected it would be on her social later.

After a few minutes of the three of them insulting each other, we had all had enough. Lysander stood up suddenly.

"Guys!" he said loudly. "Either you are going to stop yelling at each other and sit down or Sally and Annie have to go to another compartment."

"Oh, so you're taking her side." Sally turned to him, "Does our friendship mean nothing to you?"

"When did I say I was taking her side? And if we are going there, I'm better friends with Lily anyway." He said.

"BOOM!" Lily stood up. "I'm better. Our only common friend says I'm better. This clearly shows a winner."

"Oh, you know what else will show a winner?" Sally walked up to Lily and hit her in the face. Sally was much bigger and stronger than Lily, so the force nearly knocked her over. After she regained her balance, she moved to punch Sally back. They were starting a full-on brawl in the train that had just started moving.

Lucy and Annie were egging them on. Lucy had handed her phone to Lysander's twin Lorcan, who was smiling while watching the fight. Hugo was looking out the window and didn't seem to notice any of what was happening. Sometimes I was jealous of his talent for tuning out his surroundings. Louis, another Weasley cousin, looked like he was seconds away from hiding below the seats. I just wanted to disappear.

Then, like a ray of sunlight through the storm, Alessia showed up. She locked eyes with me through the window, completely unimpressed. She then walked behind Lily and Sally before grabbing both of them by the collars of their shirts. Alessia ended up lifting Lily slightly off the ground when she pulled them apart.

"This isn't happening right now." Alessia stated, looking between the two of them. Lily was beginning to show signs of a black eye, and Sally was holding her arm like it hurt.

"Sally, Annie, Ellie, we are going to another compartment." Alessia said. I slowly stood up and followed them out. I smiled at Lily and her friends as I left.

The rest of the train ride was calm. I was relieved when we arrived at Hogwarts; we hadn't been able to do much other than listen to Sally rant about Lily. Sometimes it seemed like she was all Sally talked about.

Dinner in the great hall was boring as always. We had to sit at a table with our house because it was the first day. At least Sally and Annie are both in Slytherin. Even if their conversation was unbearable, it was better than being alone. Most people made friends in their house, but a few people only had friends outside their house or no friends at all.

Suddenly, I felt the paper in my pocket burn. It now reads a message under the directions, 'Room of Requirement after dinner. be quick.'