I Fancy You: James Sirius Potter

48. Her

I stand at the edge of the forest. My arms have chills all over them. She's in there waiting for me. I grip my wand tightly then see the white snake peak from behind a tree further back. She hides her head behind the tree then peaks back at me as a hooded human.
I need answers. I tell her
Then come in.
Fine.

Daniel's pov:
"Alright thank you all for trying out! Either myself or Scorpius will be in touch with you if you've made the team," I tell all of the Slytherins who came to quidditch tryouts. I pat Scorpius on the back before he goes to change and meet up with Albus. While I'm putting the bludgers and other quidditch equipment away I see James walking towards me looking pretty upset. "Hey what's-" he punches me before I can ask what's wrong then he tackles me to the ground.
I instinctively throw him off of me with a hard hit to his head. "I had to get that out of my system," he says while getting up.
"James what the hell?" I get up and try my hardest not to start punching on him.
"I just was talking to Ellie. She told me about you guys saying I love you to each other and I just snapped. I'm sorry."
I sigh and sit back on the ground. "You need to let it go, James."
"I know. I just hate how badly I fucked up with her. I hate that I actually like the guy she replaced me with too." He sits down with me. "You really are a good guy. I just want to hate you and her."
"You'll never hate her, I know that for sure. No one could ever really hate Ellie." I smile and lean back.
"I know." He leans back with me.
We're both quiet for a minute before Scorpius and Albus come running.
"Ellie's gone into the forest," Albus says out of breath. "We just saw her. Let's go."
All four of us run as fast as we can with out wands out towards the forest. James and I stop dead in our tracks at the edge of the forest.
"What are you doing? We have to go in there after her," Scorpius says irritated.
"Yeah. We know," James says before taking a deep breath. I do the same and then we all walk in, wands drawn.

Ellie's pov:
As I follow the girl further into the forest I feel colder, darker, more hopeless. When she finally stops I almost run right into her because I wasn't paying attention. She turns to me, face still hidden by her hood.
"Do you feel it Ellie?" She says. This is the first time she hasn't spoken to me in Parseltongue. Her voice sounds familiar.
"Do I feel what?" I ask irritated.
"His presence. It's in her."
"Please be more cryptic." I roll my eyes and look around. "Where is she?"
"She's here." The girl says. She takes down her hood and I now know why she sounds so familiar. Shes one of my roommates. Her curtains were closed around her bed the night the snake was in my bed.
"Why haven't you killed me yet, Mara? You've had plenty of opportunities."
"She wants to kill you herself."
"Who is she?"
"Delphini," she whispers.
Suddenly the wind grows colder, the forest grows darker. Vines grab my legs and pull me, tying me up against a tree. I free one arm with my wand then the rest of my body. I quickly cast my patronus, the lioness circles me.
"Very good, Ellie. You're as quick as Mara says," a chilling voice says from all around me.
"You can't have the Potters," I tell her while my patronus still circles me. "I won't let you."
"I know. That's why I'll kill you first," she says. She makes a dive for me but the lioness is faster, knocking her on the ground. Her hair is no longer black. It's all sliver. Mara has turned back into a snake, coiling around herself, ready to strike if she needs to.
Delphini jumps up and throws a spell at my patronus but my lioness dodges it. Suddenly a lion patronus jumps directly onto Delphini. I turn to see James and Daniel with their wands out.
Albus and Scorpius appear behind them, both shooting spells past me to Delphini and Mara. My heart drops seeing Albus though. I run past the rest of the guys and grab onto Albus, running as fast as I can with him to get out to the forest. Delphini shoots through the forest in a black smoke, right behind us.
"Don't you dare stop running until we're out of this forest, Albus," I tell him. Spells shoot past us, the guys all trying to hit Delphini. I push Albus forward and he runs faster without me. I turn back and stun Delphini before she realizes it. She tumbles to the ground and the guys jump over her, Daniel throws me over his shoulder and they all run. I continue to send spells flying back at her even though we've left her far behind. Suddenly I'm dropped to the ground and I realize we're out of the forest.
We're all fighting to catch our breath. All I care about is that Albus is safe and wasn't touched by Delphini. I throw my head backwards on the ground, screaming out in pain. My veins turn ice cold, black underneath my skin.
I'll have you dead soon. I'll have your boys begging for mercy that will never be granted to them. You will regret this, Ellie. I hear it all in my head. I scream out in pain one last time before I'm able to shut her out. Daniel is holding me with tears in his eyes. I feel my body convulse, foam forming at my mouth but I can't stop it. Daniel has me in his arms, running me to the infirmary.
Then everything goes dark.

Daniel's pov:
My entire body is shaking when I set Ellie down in the infirmary bed. Her body is still convulsing. Madam Pomfrey pushes me out of the way but I fight to stay by her side. She finally has to use magic to restrain me and send me sliding across the floor, then out of the door. The second the doors close they lock. I bang on the doors loudly and repeatedly, my fists starting to bleed.
"Daniel!" James pulls me back then throws me on the floor. I lunge for him but Albus and Scorpius hold my arms back. "Daniel stop! Stop it! She's in the best place she can be right now. We have to let Madam Pomfrey work on her!"
I stop fighting back then push the boys off of me. I sit against the wall and try to compose myself. Mcgonagall comes running down the hallway.
"What is it now?" She demands from us. I'm unable to speak so Albus explains everything. She rushes into the infirmary and I get a quick glance at Ellie who's stopped convulsing.
James sits next to me on one side, Albus on the other, Scorpius next to him. The four of us are silent. Eventually, Alli, Conor, and Desmond find us. They heard about what happened from a first year who was around when I brought Ellie in.
Alli looks like she cried the whole way over here. Desmond sits next to James and Conor next to him. Alli stays standing. She watches the doors as hard as I do.
It's nearly midnight when Mcgonagall steps out of the infirmary. She gives us all a pitiful look when she realizes we've all been out here the whole time, refusing to move for anyone.
"Only two of you may go see her," Mcgonagall says. I jump up immediately and before James gets the chance to get up Alli rushes in.
I'm quick to walk in after Alli, my pulse quickening when I see Ellie laying there motionless. Alli sits next to her bed and grabs her hand. Ellie stirs, her hand tightening around her best friend's.
I sit next to Alli, looking into Ellie's eyes. She looks like she fought off two trolls by herself. She almost looks hollow.
"Sorry for the scare," she says quietly, her voice cracking.
"What happened?" Alli asks.
"Not sure. She got into my head, but it was worse than that. It was like she was in my whole body. Then when I shut her out, my body shut down," Ellie explains. My heart breaks when she tries to sit up but her arms are too weak to hold herself up. I help her up myself. "I'm so sorry you guys."
"What? Why are you sorry?" Alli asks, moving to sit on the bed with her.
"I feel like I've been causing a lot of drama lately," Ellie says looking down at her hands.
"Ellie, we love you so much. Look at Daniel's hands, he loves you so much he tried to break down those doors just to get to you. You're not causing drama. You're trying to protect your friends."
I had forgotten about my hands. There's dried blood all over them. I didn't even feel how sore they are until Alli said something.
Madam Pomfrey let's Alli stay with Ellie overnight but I'm being sent to Mcgonagall's office with James to discuss what happened. I feel like I've been punched in the gut repeatedly. The girl I love almost died today. Again.
James and I are quiet until I stop him and look into his eyes.
"I need you to promise me something," I say to him. James furrows his brows. When I tell him what I need from him, he shakes my hand. Just for a moment we lock eyes, our bond over Ellie stronger than ever. I can only hope he keeps his promise.