The Choices We Make ∆ Harry Potter Sister

Chapter 3.5

The week following their first day of returning to the magical castle was nothing less than a struggle for both Ellie and the boys. For Ellie, it was hard to stay mad at them, because they were her best friend and staying mad at them means staying away from them, hence, having little to no one to talk to all week long. For the boys, she was their little ray of sunshine, the little sister they never had, even. They felt terrible for what they did, not necessarily because they knew how wrong they were, but because it made their favourite girl drift away from them. And for a certain blue eyed boy, he knew he messed up terribly. He couldn't even remember when was the last time he heard her laugh, or talk to her about anything else except quidditch. Sure, it was going to be a hell of a school year with the Triwizard Tournament coming up, and the two other schools coming to Hogwarts, but he'd rather have a monotonous school year where a Potter girl was talking to him on a daily basis than having a festive, historic, event taking place at Hogwarts. For now, he could only stare longingly from across the room as she sat next to her brother and his friends at the tables of the lions, smiling fondly to a letter in her hand.

•••

My dear Elle,

I miss you, Elle, and so does someone who's currently sulking because he cannot see his baby girl. I hope you're doing alright, especially after what happened at the world cup. Yes, Molly wrote to me about it, and no, I didn't let the dog out, so don't you worry about that.

Funny story, I have recently received a letter from a Mr. Pucey, whom I recalled to be a Slytherin three years above you, apologising for what happened at the end of the prior school year. I know he is a friend of yours, and this is probably your doing, and whatever it is, I think his heart is in the right place. Maybe not all Slytherins are rotten after all. Except for my goddaughter, of course, because Eleanor, you are an angel. I've told him it wasn't his fault and for what it's worth, I forgive him. Maybe you should too, Elle.

I hope you're having a great year, even without the coolest DADA professor teaching you. Just know that I'm only a letter a way. Be good, and stay safe, Elle. Give my love to your brother, too.

I love you always,

Your moon and star

Ps. the dog is getting restless. Perhaps he needs to see his favourite boy. Will you tell him to send a word?

Folding the letter back in half, the oddball of the table of the lions smiled to herself, "Crazy old Padfoot."

"Everything alright, Ellie?" asked her brother through his spoonful of cereal. It was odd for him to see his sister smiling, but heartwarming nonetheless, since she hadn't done that enough in the past week.

"Splendid," she told him as she passed the letter to him. Taking the folded piece of parchment, he set down his spoon and carefully read the letter from his former professor. As soon as he reached the bottom of the page, his face turned from confusion into desperation quicker than flicking a wand.

"I knew I shouldn't have told him about my scar," muttered the older Potter under his breath. Seeing how uneasy he was feeling, the youngest Weasley boy took it upon himself to knock some sense into his thick skulled friend.

"Mate, he just wants you to write. Don't get your wand tied in a knot over it."

Nodding along, Hermione added, "Besides, I think he deserves to know what's going on with you, Harry. He cares about you."

"Well, he should've cared for himself," spat the older Potter, which earned himself a punch on the arm from his sister along with a scolding, "Don't be a spineless toe-rag. Just write to him before he's out of the cage."

"Bloody hell, Ellie, that hurts!" exclaimed the spectacled boy as he rubbed his arm. Rolling her eyes, Ellie muttered, "It is suppose to hurt!"

"Now, now, children," said a teasing voice that could only belong to the Weasley twins, "We don't want any dead brother this early in the school year, do we?"

"Besides, I think there are some people wanting the attention of our little Elle," added Fred as he slipped between both Potters and swung his arms on both of their shoulders.

"Unfortunately," gritted George, "Pucey hadn't stopped staring for the past twenty minutes."

Shifting her gaze to the green and silver table, Ellie found that the Weasley twins were correct. Her emerald green eyes were locked with ocean blue ones for a split second before she turned to her friends. "Right. And I need to talk to him," said Ellie as she stood up, "See you later boys."

Just as she passed her brother, Ellie stopped and hissed at him, "And for the love of Salazar, write the damn letter."

With that, she left the red and gold table and crossed the hall. A million thoughts circled around her head. Yes, she missed her friends, but she did what she had to do. She didn't want to think that just because they're in Slytherin, they're terrible people. Unfortunately, they hadn't proved otherwise, except by being nice to their fellow housemates. The young Potter wondered, should she forgive them? Forgive him? Have they learned their lesson? Have he? With just three steps away from the ocean blue eyed boy, the young Slytherin girl took a deep breath and poked the boy's shoulder.

"You wrote to Professor Lupin," said Ellie shortly. Turning to face her, the Slytherin quidditch captain stuttered, "Ye- yes. I'm sorry, Ellie."

And at that moment, Ellie realised how much a short sentence could mean. Beaming as bright as the northern lights, she threw herself into her captain's arms and buried her face in the nape of his neck.

"I'm just glad I don't have to stay mad at you anymore," she whispered to him. Smiling to himself, he pulled her closer to him, caressing her hair gently he told her, "Glad to have my favourite seeker back."

As she heard the bell rang, she pulled away and waved at him cheerily. But before she walked away from the table, she stopped and stood as tall as she could, and with her face as cold as a winter night, she turned to her three fellow classmates, "I'm still mad at you because you three were actually shaming my godfather who, yes, he happened to be a werewolf, but he's the kindest man you'll ever meet."

The blonde boy stood up with his mouth half open, but the younger girl beat him and held her hand up to shut him. "You don't even deserve to write an apology to him, he's too good to read anything from you."

And with that, she left the boy with his jaw on the floor. Returning to his seat, the blonde boy huffed and dropped his shoulders. Shaking his head, he muttered, "We screwed up."

"Big time," sufficed Adrian with a smug grin on his face.

"Oh, sod off, lover boy."

"Gladly," said the older boy as he stood up, "If you'll excuse me, I'm heading to class. You should, too."

"How will we survive the school year with Ellie hating us?" asked Theo as his cousin left the table. Narrowing his eyes, Draco scoffed, "We're Slytherins, of the purest blood there were. We'll suffice with or without her."

"This is going to be a long year," whispered Blaise to Theo as they watched their blonde friend murdering the last bit of sausage on his plate with a fork.

"Hear, hear."