The Hufflepuff

Eight

"I was thinking we should do Expelliarmus first, the Disarming Charm. It's pretty basic but-"

Before Harry can finish Zacharias Smith butts in, something he might have regretted if he'd seen the annoyed and deadly glare Cynthia shot his way.

"Please, as if Expelliarmus is going to help us in a fight against You-Know-Who."

"It saved my life in June." Harry replies quietly. The silence in the room is deafening. Noone else says anything, even Zacharias manages to keep his mouth shut and he continues, "So I think it would be best to divide into pairs and practise."

Eleanor and Cynthia pair up immediately, Susan going off to find Hannah Abbott and Reggie turning to another Ravenclaw boy.

"It sickens me how he fawns over you," Cyn smiles, getting into a stance to await Eleanor's spell.

"If you don't like it I can say no."

"No you idiot, I like it. Just, all lovey-dovey crap in general is sickening."

Eleanor sends the first Expelliarmus at Cyn whose wand immediately flies out of her hand.

"Aww come on, what about uh-whatshisname, the French guy?"

"Henri?"

"Yeah him. You went to the Yule Ball with him last year."

Cyn's own spell comes a second later and Eleanor's wand slips from her hand.

"Only because he asked and only because I'd look stupid if I went and didn't have a date."

The two of them continue to throw the spell back and forth, occasionally having to pause their conversation to retrieve their wands when they had gone too far.

At one point, before Eleanor had even cast Expelliarmus Cyn's wand flew out of her hand, a questioning eyebrow raised. From behind them they heard laughter and turned around to see the two red-haired twins who'd been standing in a corner casting the spell on unsuspecting people.

Marching over to retrieve her wand Cyn just shakes her head at them and when they're done laughing they pass back her wand.

"Hey, aren't you one of the students doing the Hufflepost?" Asks one of the boys.

"Yeah."

"Excellent, we want to talk about placing adverts in it," says the other.

"Adverts?"

"For our products. Currently skiving snackboxes but we're working on other things."

"I'll uh, talk to my friends and get back to you," she says returning to Eleanor just as Harry calls for a stop to the night.

Reggie confirms his date with Eleanor, saying he'll meet her outside the great hall on Saturday morning before she joins Cynthia and Susan in returning to the Hufflepuff Common Room.

"That was so much fun!" Susan giggles quietly as they enter the common room and no longer need to worry about being caught by Umbridge.

"I'm going to work on an article for the Hufflepost on Expelliarmus, oh and those boys wanted to place an ad," Cynthia says, barely stopping for breath.

Susan agrees to help her and they settle down in a corner of the room while Eleanor pulls out the last of her homework to finish before going to bed, eager for the weekend to arrive.

___

"Are you sure I look okay?" Eleanor asks for the dozenth time, earning an eye roll from Cynthia and an exasperated sigh from Susan.

"For the hundredth time. Yes."

"I'm sorry," she laughs, "I'm just so nervous."

"You will be fine."

They rounded a corner into the Entrance Hall and Eleanor watches the others duck inside the Great Hall for a late breakfast as she stands there waiting for Reggie to arrive.

A few minutes later he appears coming down the stairs, a smile tugging on his face when he sees her standing there waiting for him.

"You look nice," he says breathlessly from his run down the stairs, a basket in one hand as he absentmindedly takes Eleanor's hand to lead her outside.

The shock of his touch makes Eleanor blush and she lets him guide her out into the chilly air to a sunny spot by the lake. He places the basket on the ground and notices he is holding Eleanor by the hand still, his smile growing as she clumsily pulls her hand away to help unpack the food from the basket.

They sit side by side eating the food that Reggie had packed with the help of the House Elves.

"I only went in there to ask for food and when I mentioned your name they all perked up and started making suggestions, said you were in there twice a week for dinner and they knew exactly what you'd like."

"Uh yeah, I don't get to dinner sometimes so I go to the kitchens for something. I keep meaning to make it myself but they've gotten to know when I'll arrive and they always have food ready as soon as I get there."

"Why do you miss dinner?"

"It's a long story." Eleanor says, suddenly unsure how a Ravenclaw would feel about her getting tuition, despite the fact she was also tutoring just for a different class.

"Well, I don't have to be anywhere for a while."

"Um, well, I really want to do alchemy next year and there's another student who wants to as well. And at the start of the year Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape decided they weren't sure if we should do it. I have to do better at Potions see and this other student needs to get better grades in Transfiguration, so they've got us tutoring one another in the classes. If we get higher grades then they'll consider allowing us to take the class next year."

"Who's the other student?"

"Malfoy."

"Oh. Bet they're cheery sessions."

"They're not as bad as they sound." Eleanor smiles, and then thinks of anything to change the subject.

"You two spend a fair bit of time together then?" He says, a distant look on his face for a moment.

"Uh, no more than we have to. We aren't friends by far and honestly he's such an annoying, mannerless prat that I have no intentions to change that fact."

This seems to be a good answer and Reggie lets the topic change, but for the rest of the date Eleanor can't help but feel she upset him somehow.