Ella ○ Harry Potter

Eleven: Feels Like The Very First Christmas To Me

"Remus!" Ella called loudly, waving to the man.

"Hey Ella," he greeted. "Hey Koda," he patted the Tanuki. "You're going home for the Holidays?"

"Yes," she grinned. "My mum's boyfriend's probably got me some wicked gifts. Oh, I almost forgot!" she realized. She took out of her backpack a small pack of chocolate. "I wanted to buy you a cool gift, but I couldn't get any of the journals of John Dee, and I know you like chocolate, so this is just until I find you the book."

"Thanks Ella, I didn't get you a gift," he said, looking at the chocolate in his hands. Remus once more couldn't help but think how much she reminded her of him.

"That's fine, sir. You're my friend, that's more than enough."

"You know," he spoke suddenly. "I was friends with Harry's father, James," she nodded, tilting her head. "Do you have any connection to the Potters?"

"Oh, I have no idea," she shrugged. "My mom's a pure blood witch from France, but I don't know anything about my dad. I'm not sure if he's even a wizard," she scratched her head. "Why though?"

"You just remind me of James."

"Maybe I'm Harry's sister," she giggled.

"I think we'd know by now," Remus shook his head, laughing. She waved goodbye as she spotted Hagrid.

"HAGRIIIIIIIIID!" she called out, and the half-giant turned to her as Remus looked down at the chocolate in his hands.

What an odd thing for her to say.

Exactly what James did.

::

Cedric picked up her suitcase when she met him at Hogsmeade. "You're never on time, are you?"

"You don't have to," she told him, but he shook his head.

"I know. But you're slow as it is, let's hurry up a bit," she laughed, and took his hand. He wanted to be first on the train to catch his usual compartment, and she was happy to follow him. Just as long as his hand held hers; Lucky he was using a bag. "You live in a town close to Manchester, right?"

"Yup."

"How is it?"

"Oh, you know... It's something," she nodded. "I'd invite you over, but Christmas is not the best time for this. Maybe in the summer?" Cedric smiled to himself, before turning to her.

"Okay, sure. Talk to your mum, I'll speak to mine. You could come over for a few days, and I can come to your house."

Ella paused for a moment, as though only then realizing what she just said. "You know, Ced, I..." he smirked at her, as what she said just proved a point, and she hit his arm. "Stop it!"

"I'm just saying! For the fifth time," he raised his arms in surrender. "You can't act like we're dating, but also back out from any sort of commitment."

"I'm not," she defended. "I just... don't want to commit." Cedric has pointed out more than once that his friends were already certain that two were dating, based on the way they were around each other.

He laughed, grabbing her hand again and started walking. "Look, we've been through this." They were close to the train by now, "I like you, if you wanna stay friends, I'm up." He walked into the train, and helped Ella up the stair. "If you want more, I'm up. But you can't keep acting like we are more, and say we're friends. It's driving me crazy," he looked at her eyes, and she looked at his. "You're driving me crazy."

"Ced..." she sighed.

He had a point; since their first tutoring session they held hands, and hugged each other pretty much every five minutes. Their conversations stayed in the general area of casual and studies, but it was a lot more than she had with most people at Hogwarts, and she felt very comfortable around him.

"Look, no pressure, I'll never pressure you," he assured. "You can keep acting the way you act now," he nodded. "Just letting you know, that I'll lose my mind because of you," he smiled, like it was okay if he went mad because of her.

Which was more than anything she was ever told before.

He grabbed her hand and started walking to a comparment, but when he entered one, she didn't follow him.

"I like you, Ced," she said. He turned to look at her, and grinned.

"But?" he wondered.

"I dunno," she smiled. "But we've never really spoken."

"We speak every single day," he informed. "For the past month, I've spent most of my free time with you."

"But what if we disagree about politics? About anthropology theories? About--"

"I believe You-Know-Who was wrong, all living things are equal, and that I like you."

She bit her lip. "That's a pretty good thesis."

"I know," he grinned. "Look, no pressure," he repeated. "You can do whatever you want, I mean it. But I wanna play exploding snap, so..."

Ella shut the door behind her, and as Cedric took out the cards, she grabbed them. The boy raised his eyebrows, and she grinned.

"You'll forgive me?"

"For beating me in Exploding Snap?" he asked, laughing. She looked down at the cards, before back up at him.

"For not being a good kisser."

::

"ELLA!" a voice called, and the door opened. Two red-heads stood at the door, frowning at the group of Hufflepuffs and the single Slytherin.

"FRED! GEORGE!" she called back in the same tone.

"You said you'd sit with us at the ride," Fred pointed out.

"It's been an hour into the ride and you're not with us," George went on.

"You did?" one of Cedric's friends asked. "Then it's not fair that you'd be here."

"You just don't wanna lose anymore," Cedric pointed out.

"Whatever, it was fun, Ella," the friend said. "Have a great christmas!"

"I--"

"Yeah, Ella! Bye! See you after the holiday!" the group all waved, Cedric simply laughing.

"You guys, let her have a moment," Cedric chuckled, but she sighed.

"Nah, I'll just go now. Beware, Puffies," she warned. "We're the pranking group, and you are now on our bad side."

"Even Ced?" A blond boy asked, and Ella grinned.

"We'll see," she waved goodbye, and Fred threw at George her suitcase. "Bye Puffies!"

The trio took a few steps before Fred huffed. "What's so great about Diggory?"

"You're sour because your quidditch team is losing to theirs," Ella pointed out, and George smacked her head. "Ow! Puffies don't do that, that's one thing that's good about them."

"I just mean, I know he tutors you," Fred went on. "But aren't we more fun to hang around with?"

"Well, if I'd be getting a piggy back ride, that would have an easy answer."

"We're five steps away from a cherished seat," Fred stopped, looking at her in confusion.

"Five steps too many." She was very serious, so Fred allowed her to hop on his back and be carried to the comparment. "You're better than Diggory."

"Thank you, I know that."

"Am I third wheeling here?" George wondered, but the two didn't even hear him.

"But Diggory's butt is cuter."

"You're a pervert."