the boy who had no choice [d.m]

𝖘𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓

ELARA AND STUART DIDN'T SPEAK.

It was easier than she thought it'd be. Granted, she still ached for her best friend and experienced bouts of rage when she thought of him but she had expected a lot more prodding and interrogating from Indigo and Tracy.

But it seemed Elara had put enough distance between her and her friends in the past few months that they didn't even press her after the inital few times of asking what was going on.

Elara hated herself for it. Somehow, she'd drifted from three of her best friends - but at the same time, it lifted a load off of her. She could spend time on her own, her nose buried in her textbooks in the library, desperately trying to learn everything she could before the end of term exams.

Christmas was only a few weeks away now and she knew Professor Flitwick would be doing his rounds soon, collecting the names of those Ravenclaws that would be staying at Hogwarts for the winter holidays.

"Nice one, El!" Luna smiled, approvingly, as Elara cast a quick non-verbal Expelliarmus. "You're brilliant."

Elara returned the smile. "Thanks, Luna."

"You're doing great, Elara," Harry nodded as he strolled towards them. He was doing his rounds, going through each dueling pair in the Room of Requirement, catching their mistakes and praising their efforts.

"I've got good teachers," Elara shot back, playfully, and Harry grinned.

"El, we gotta run." Cho appeared at her shoulder, tugging at her hand. "Quidditch practice. We're already late."

"Shit." Elara pocketed her wand. "Davies will kill us."

Their captain did, in fact, kill them. Well, not literally but Elara wished he would just Avada Kedavra them instead of berating them in front of the entire team.

"... last Quidditch match!... can't even show up on bloody time..."

She tuned out the rest, resorting to hanging her head and waiting for it to be over.

When it finally was and the team moved to mount their brooms, a movement in the bleachers caught her eye.

She turned, not expecting anyone except Tracy to come and watch them practice, especially on such a cold day.

Her heart thudded in her chest as she caught a glimpse of white-blond hair and a tall frame.

"What in Merlin is he doing here?" Indigo muttered, following Elara's gaze. "Since when does he come to watch our Quidditch practices?"

"Who knows why Malfoy does what he does."

Elara's eyes snapped to Stuart as he spoke. He stood on the other side of Indigo, looking up at Draco too. "C'mon, Indi. Let's get up in the air."