CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

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Fred foolishly waited for Eleanor to break into laughter and claim that she was only teasing him, but between the silence and the stern expression, it was clear that she was not joking

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Fred foolishly waited for Eleanor to break into laughter and claim that she was only teasing him, but between the silence and the stern expression, it was clear that she was not joking. At first, he didn't even understand what she was talking about, his thoughts were too wrapped up regarding the Triwizard Tournament, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the boy, Malcolm Baddock following a Slytherin prefect out of the Great Hall. Eleanor folded her arms expectantly as if he were to apologise right then and there, but Fred could only shake his head with a slight laugh.

"Come on, Ellie," he said, "George and I were just joking around, we didn't mean any harm by it. We hissed, but isn't a snake the animal of Slytherin?"

"Right, but I didn't see you growling for any Hufflepuff, roaring for any Gryffindors, or chirping for any of the Ravenclaws. You purposely hissed at the Slytherin students. It was pretty obvious."

"I hardly believe he heard us," Fred argued, "everyone else was clapping and cheering, I'm surprised you heard us!"

Eleanor shook her head at his response. "I didn't hear it; I saw you do it. Narrowing your eyes, you and George were practically glaring at him! And what if he had seen that or heard it for that matter? Just because he didn't, doesn't mean you weren't in the wrong."

Fred wasn't sure if he was feeling embarrassed since he was being called out in the middle of the corridor as fellow students walked by them, or if he was hurt because he had been so hopeful that Eleanor was going to ask him out that evening, only to have it turn into her scolding him, which wasn't exactly romantic. He was only growing more defensive because he knew deep down, she was right, but it wasn't like he was going to just admit such a thing. That would have been the smart thing to do.

"Since when do you feel the need to defend a Slytherin student?" he huffed irritably. "You don't even know him!"

"Exactly, you don't know him either!" Eleanor snapped at him. "That's the point I'm trying to make, you treat all the Slytherin students the same. I know some of them can be nasty, but that's in all houses. As soon as they are sorted into Slytherin you cast your judgement. You just see them all as Malfoy, but all I saw was an eleven-year-old boy being away from home for probably the first time in his life and having two sixteen-year-old boys hissing at him."

"Alright, so we're not buddy-buddy with people in Slytherin, I don't see you going out of your way to make friends with any of them either!"

"Maybe you should try pulling your head from your arse for one minute and realise that before I became friends with you, I was only friends with Marnie and Cedric. I haven't gone out of my way to really make friends with anyone else because I was content with the friends I made, but I still had the common decency to be kind to others!"

"I am kind to others! Maybe you should just develop a sense of humour!"

It grew quiet between the two of them, Eleanor's hardened expression softened and immediately, Fred regretted everything he had just said. He went to apologise but Eleanor beat him to the punch.

Tightly Knit ⟶ Fred WeasleyWhere stories live. Discover now