Harry was a hero in the Gryffindor common room that night. Fred and George had put an Enlargement Charm on the front cover of The Quibbler and hung it on the wall, so that Harry's giant head gazed down upon the proceedings, occasionally saying things like "The Ministry are morons" and "Eat dung, Umbridge" in a booming voice.
Hermione did not find this very amusing; she said it interfered with her concentration, and ended up going to bed early out of irritation.
I thought the poster was funny, but it got old after about an hour or two, especially when the talking spell had started to wear off, so that it merely shouted disconnected words like "Dung" and "Umbridge" at random intervals.
I couldn't tell if it was the ridiculous shouting from the poster, or the loud talking in the common room, but my head began to ache terribly as the night went on.
"You alright?" Harry asked, sitting down next to me on the couch, one hand pressing firmly against his scar.
"Could ask you the same thing," I shrugged, holding my head in my hands. "It's just a headache."
"Same here,"
"Sure it is, Harry." I scoffed. "Your scar is hurting, isn't it?"
"A little bit. I think I just need to sleep. You should too." and without another word, he disappeared up the stairs.
"Ella, what are you doing? Come on, you're missing the fun!" George grabbed my arm and dragged me to the table where he, Fred, and Lee had been testing more Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products.
"Here, try this," Fred handed a brightly colored candy to me.
"You should know by now that I don't trust any food you give me." I pushed it away.
"Come on, Ella! I'll eat one with you! We finally perfected our Fever Fudge!" he urged, grabbing an identical candy from a package.
"Yeah, no more of those wretched boils," George shook his head. "Just wait a minute before taking the antidote, to see if anything bad happens."
"Alright, fine," I sighed, popping the candy in my mouth at the same time as Fred.
Almost five seconds later, Fred's face glistened with sweat. I didn't feel any different, even after the entire minute.
"Alright, no issues, so it's time to take the antidote." George handed us each the other half of the fudge.
"I don't think mine worked." I said, swallowing my piece of fudge. "I didn't feel hot or start sweating or anything."
Fred looked at me with a shocked expression.
"Mine worked! Maybe you just didn't wait long enough for it to kick in," he handed me another. "Try this one."
I ate the fudge, waited another minute, and felt exactly the same.
"That's weird," George said, looking at me curiously. "They've been working all day."
"Ella, do you feel alright?" Fred asked me, handing me the antidote.
"Yeah, I guess I had a bit of a headache, but I think that's from the poster you guys hung up." I shrugged, chewing the fudge.
"Are you sick?" Lee asked. "Maybe it doesn't work if you already have a fever."
"I'm not sick!" I said hurriedly. "I feel normal."
Unfortunately, I didn't feel normal. My head was pounding, and I felt extremely cold, despite the fire crackling behind me.
Fred reached over and felt my forehead.
"You feel really hot, Ella. Maybe we should get you to bed?"
"No, I'm okay. It's fine, Fred, really."
"Come on, El, you have a fever." he pleaded.
"I'll be okay, I'll go to sleep right now. Goodnight," I said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before heading to my own dormitory.
I could've sworn I heard him sigh as I left the room.
***
I tossed and turned for hours, barely falling asleep for more than two minutes before my head started aching again.
I didn't even know what time it was, but I assumed it was late, because the common room was deserted when I wandered down.
I had hoped the change in scenery would allow for better sleep, but I was wrong. I layed awake, shivering, even though I was right next to the warm fire.
It wasn't long before I heard the creak of the stairs, and sat up quickly to see who was awake.
"Ella? What the hell are you doing up?" Fred looked at me worriedly.
"Why are you awake?" I countered.
"Oh, you know, just doing my nightly stroll through the castle. You didn't let me get very far, unfortunately." he said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Yeah, my bad. I'll let you get back to it." I said, trying to push past him.
"Oh no you don't," he grabbed my arm, immediately doing a double take when he realized how hot my skin was.
I yanked my arm away. He pressed his hand to my forehead almost instantly.
"Are you okay?" he questioned, failing to hide the concern in his voice.
"Fine," I muttered. "I just couldn't sleep."
"Perfect, because I have just the solution."
Before I could argue, Fred led me back to his dormitory. George and Lee were fast asleep in their beds, and didn't even notice as we crept inside.
Fred peeled back the blankets as I crawled into his bed, clearly noticing how much I had been shivering. He tucked me in and conjured up a couple extra blankets, "just in case".
After I got cozy, he laid down next to me, holding me close as he rubbed my back.
"Is that ok?" he whispered.
I nodded, feeling sleepy already.
He continued to rub my back in silence, and it didn't take long for me to fall fast asleep. But it didn't last.
I lost count of how many times I woke up that night. I kept having weird dreams; one of which I was the Gryffindor Keeper and had Pumpkin Pasties hurled at me during the match by Draco Malfoy, who was wearing one of Umbridge's frilly pink dresses.
Each time I awoke, dazed and startled, Fred was already up and rubbing my back until I dozed off again.
"You're okay," he would whisper in my ear each time. "Everything's okay."
***
When I woke up the next morning, I felt even worse, if that was possible. I still felt like I was dreaming, and kept my eyes closed to calm my throbbing headache.
As I considered a way to get up without fainting or crying out in pain, I heard the door fling open and the twins entered with Lee.
"Well she doesn't look good," George said.
Wow, thanks George, I thought bitterly.
"Maybe you should take her to Madam Pomfrey." Lee suggested.
Yeah, right. I would rather die than visit that old witch.
"She'd rather die than visit that old witch, and I can't blame her. It's almost as boring as History of Magic in there." Fred replied.
"Alright, I got my Puking Pastilles," George said, shutting his trunk. "Let's blow off Transfiguration in style,"
Footsteps shuffled throughout the dorm.
"You coming, Freddie?" George asked.
"Well— I just...I should stay..."
"You can't bail now! We have to start planning!"
"We will! But Ella needs me!" Fred said defensively. "I can't just leave her here, especially since I'll have no choice sooner or later."
"Alright, alright, we'll start planning without you." Lee said. "Don't worry about it, Fred. She'll understand; and you're leaving me too, after all! We'll make a Fred Weasley Hate Club!"
Fred chortled, but even his laugh couldn't lighten my mood now.
More footsteps, and then the door closed. The noise as it slammed shut made my head ache even more. I tried to push the boys' conversation out of my mind; I could ask about it later, when I was feeling more up to it.
"Hey, El, I brought you breakfast." Fred whispered.
I opened my eyes to see a large tray full of food lying at my feet.
"How're you feeling?" he asked softly.
"Good," I mumbled, but my voice was hoarse and raspy.
"You don't sound good," Fred raised his eyebrows.
I gave him an obscene gesture before attempting to sit up, which only aggravated my head.
"Take it easy, love, you don't want to overdo it." Fred muttered, placing his hand on my back.
Sitting up didn't work, so Fred fed me spoonfuls of soup as I laid down. I barely had enough energy to eat, let alone talk, so Fred did most of the conversation portion.
He told me about everything; Hogwarts, Quidditch, his childhood (the little that I didn't already know), and more. I was feeling sleepy when he finally got to the most interesting parts.
"I've known you forever, Ella," he said quietly. "I always thought you were just another annoying girl, like Ginny. But then, you weren't. You were funny, bossy, incredibly witty, and you liked to prank."
"What can I say? I'm a catch." I replied. Even though my eyes were closed, I knew he was laughing.
"Remember when we played Quidditch in the field behind The Burrow? It was before your third year. You, George, and I against Ginny, Ron, and Miranda. Miranda didn't even let Ron touch the Quaffle, and you tried to push her off your broom!"
I remembered that day like it had just happened. It was one of my favorite days of all time.
"She broke my wrist that day," I recalled. "But it was worth it. I had a great time. And then you...you went to..." my voice grew quiet.
"I went to St. Mungo's with you. I wouldn't leave your side. Mum tried to get me to stay home, but I refused. That was when I knew I loved you."
"That was when I knew I loved you too."