WARNING: UNDER REWRITING AND HEAVY EDITING
Read at your own risk!
Life started off complicated for young Eleanor Ross after being born to a muggle mother while showing her magical capabilities at an early age. Growing up in a household where her mot...
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Riding the high of Gryffindor's win against Ravenclaw, Fred found himself in a fairly good mood most days, or perhaps it was due to the hug that Eleanor had given to him shortly after the match after she congratulated the team on the win. Of course, her hug had only added to the series of mixed signals they seemed to share. Especially afterwards since she realised, she had only hugged him and then proceeded to hug the entire Gryffindor Quidditch Team to play it off.
It was a common stereotype that Hufflepuffs were extremely friendly, although Marnie was obvious proof that not all Hufflepuffs fell under such a definition. However, Eleanor had always been known to be incredibly friendly, maybe not the most social within the castle, but she always wore such a soft smile that made even the coldest soul willing to approach her.
Even though their interactions had been limited over the years, Fred always made note of how pretty Eleanor was, although it was never out loud. Growing up in a household with plenty of siblings, the mere mention of anyone outside of the group was readily deemed as a love interest. And while all he felt was a fluttery feeling in his chest when Eleanor was around, he wasn't ready to be taunted over his feelings just yet. He was fine with playing it off that he was simply interested in Eleanor due to her ability to avoid the pranks delivered by him and his brother.
However, he grew fearful that the longer he tried to play it cool, Eleanor would lose interest and move on. And with every passing year as she matured, it was clear that she was beautiful, if Cedric had already asked her out on a date the year before, how much longer before others in the castle started showing interest?
Thankfully, there were plenty of opportunities that presented themselves to keep Eleanor and Fred talking on a regular basis.
Such as the afternoon where Fred found Eleanor in the library working on her Potions' homework.
She looked ready to cry out in defeat as he watched her pull the ends of her hair in pure frustration. George and Lee were going to meet up with Fred in the library in just a few minutes, leaving him a small window to approach and talk to Eleanor on his own. Grabbing the chair next to her, Fred casually sat him down, bringing Eleanor to look over at him. He had felt the urge to tease her further about her "secret" but seeing the distress on her face he immediately decided against it.
"What's wrong, Ellie? You look like Wood after losing a Quidditch match. You look borderline ready to drown yourself in the locker room showers."
Untangling her fingers carefully from her hair, Eleanor let out a small sigh, not even stifling a laugh at his comparison.
"It's Potions," she told him, " I feel like I'm going to fail miserably in my O.W.L.s. It doesn't help that whenever we ask a question in class, Professor Snape only tells us that by now we should know the answer. It seems like such an easy class on the surface but it's all the multitasking and making sure the timing is right, I always end up missing a step or adding it too late."
