February 8th 1975
Having practice every day, sometimes more than once a day was starting to wear on Ella.
With that on top of her classes, studying for exams, and trying to squeeze in a few moments with her friends and Fabian was becoming too much.
She held her head in her hand one afternoon at lunch too tired to eat. Her eyes were heavy and she was fighting to keep them open.
Marlene had decided to go back to their dorm to rest during lunch which Ella was now wishing she had done.
It looked like a lot of the team was in the same boat as they were missing from lunch, the others with their heads down on the table.
Fabian sat down next to Ella with a loud sigh
"Are you as exhausted as I am?" He asked his eyes heavy as well.
She tried to say yes but it more or less just came out as a groan.
He smiled and chuckled at her response and she finally lifted her head up to meet his eyes.
"There you are beautiful" he said making her blush.
A sudden surge of energy took over and she was happy to see Fabian, she wanted to spend all of her time with him.
"You think my under eye bags are beautiful" she teased
"Of course I do" he smiled down at her moving closer.
"Barf" Sirius yelled looking at the pair
"I love you Fabian" he said mimicking Ella's voice
"No I love you more Ella" he said dropping his voice to attempt to sound like Fabian
"Shut up Black" she said throwing a piece of bread at him.
It smacked him in the face and everyone at the table laughed
"Let them be Sirius" Mary said
"Some people like to show their affections to the people they like"
Sirius shrunk a bit in his seat after that pointed comment.
"Oi Fabian" Gideon said joining them at the table
"I've been looking all over for you"
Ella scooted away from Fabian praying that Gideon wouldn't make her talk about quidditch.
She slowly turned her body back to her friends, her back now facing the boys.
"Here I am" he said seemingly a tad annoyed
"We need to talk about practice" he said to his brother
"No we don't" Fabian groaned
"I'm tired, everyone on the team is tired"
Ella looked back between the two boys feeling a bit awkward. She bent her head down and picked at the remaining food on her plate.
Gideon looked over at her and then to James and so on down the table.
Without another word he left the great hall
"I should...."
Fabian got up looking after his brother. Ella nodded and smiled at him as he left.
"Merlin this quidditch team seems more trouble than it's worth" Remus chimed in
February 10th 1975
Ella was on the couch while it poured outside the fire roaring in front of her.
She snuggled into James and let out a long sigh
"Cozy?" Remus asked with a smile as he and Sirius joined them
Peter was in an armchair next to the fire already having fallen asleep.
"Very" she sighed contently
"Perfect" Sirius said plopping down next to them
"Because we have important things to discuss"
Ella opened her eyes and gave the boy a suspicious look.
"We've allowed too much time to pass between our pranks" he started
Remus sat across from them and nodded in agreement.
"Ah yes" James said
"And who is the target, snivillus?"
"Yes and no" Sirius said
"We want to charm the giant squid" Remus said
"You want to what?" Ella asked sitting up
"Charm the giant squid" he repeated, Sirius had a wild look on his face.
"How do you even think of these things?" She asked
"Pure brain power" Sirius said
"Ah yes that" she rolled her eyes
"Well what would we charm the squid to do?" James asked
"Sing!" Sirius exclaimed
"You're going to sing?" Mary asked as she and the other girls walked into the common room.
"You're cute babe but no one needs to hear that" she teased. Remus slouched and looked at the ground.
"I'm a great singer" Sirius argued
"Yeah a regular David Bowie" James teased
"You're just jealous" Sirius mumbled making them all laugh.
"Awe yes we are" Ella joked patting his arm.
"Anyway" Remus said pulling the attention back to the prank
"The giant squid will sing almost constantly after we charm it, it'll last for about two days" he said
"And what exactly is the point of this?" Marlene asked
"The point is the Slytherin common room is under the lake" Sirius said
"It'll be nonstop noise for them"
"Devious" James laughed
"That would definitely drive me mad" Ella said
"I think it's childish" Lily grumbled before walking off to her dorm.
Everyone watched her stomp off and then looked over at James.
He just shrugged
"Don't look at me"
The other two girls followed after her up to their dorm leaving the boys and Ella.
They turned back to prank planning and Ella smiled as her eyes grew heavy.
February 11th 1975
"Ella?" Fabian shook her shoulder and she jumped up
"What what..?" She looked around, still in the common room.
"Did you sleep here?" He asked
"I must have fallen asleep" she said getting to her feet, rubbing her eyes.
After prank planning last night she had stayed downstairs working on her charms essay.
Ella noticed Fabian in his quidditch uniform and her stomach dropped
"No" she cried
"I'm going to be late"
"Hey relax-"
"No I have to change I'll be late" she tried pushing past him in her panic.
Gideon would be so mad if she was late she didn't know what to do.
Fabian grabbed her arms and looked down into her eyes
"Don't worry about it" he said firmly
"Don't rush go change I'll handle it"
Ella quickly changed and ran as fast as she could to the quidditch pitch.
When she got there everyone was already flying, everyone but Fabian and Gideon.
"Just because some girl you fancy can't manage to be at practice on time doesn't mean I have to change what I'm doing!" Gideon yelled
"It's not just her!" Fabian yelled back and Ella's stomach sank.
"It's your whole team, we're all exhausted and that's no way to win"
"Everyone is fine" Gideon shouted
"Look around everyone is not fine they're miserable"
Fabian took a step closer to his brother and Ella ran over.
"Boys stop it" she shouted looking between them
"Shut up Ella" Gideon snapped.
She was taken aback and just froze
"What's wrong with you?" Fabian shouted
"You Fabian!" His brother yelled
Fabian looked as if he had more to say but just stormed off throwing his broom on the ground.
Gideons breathing was ragged as he watched his brother leave.
Ella had no idea what to do as she stood there frozen with shock.
"Get to work" Gideon mumbled and walked away from her.
James flew to the ground and landed next to her
"What just happened?" He asked.
"I.....I" she shook her head tears spilling over her eyes.
"Oh hey none of that" James said wrapping his arms around her
"Everything is fine" he said rubbing her back gently.
She sniffled and explained the situation. James gave her an uneasy look and then looked over his shoulder to where Gideon was.
"Go ahead" she said
"Get back to it"
Ella didn't stay at practice. After James calmed her down she went back to the castle looking for Fabian.
She ran all the way to Gryffindor and then snuck up the stairs to the boys dorms.
She cautiously opened the door to the sixth year dorms and looked around.
Luckily it was empty, well except for Fabian who was sat on his bed his back to the door.
"Fabian" Ella said her voice coming out a whisper
He turned and his face softened when he saw who it was
"What are you doing here?" He asked
"I wanted to make sure you were alright" she said still standing in the doorway.
He sighed and turned back around
"I don't even know what happened"
Ella crossed the room and stood by his bed. She frowned unsure what to say.
"Are you alright?" Fabian asked suddenly remembering how his brother acted towards her.
"I'm fine" she said shaking her head
"That's not what matters"
"Of course it is" Fabian said holding his hand out for her.
She moved closer and placed her hand on his.
"I'm sorry you got into a fight because of me" she said quietly but he just shook his head
"It wasn't you, what I said was true...he's pushing everyone too hard"
Ella wasn't going to argue with that, he was right the whole team was suffering.
"He's just so focused on winning"
Fabian pulled Ella gently so she'd sit next to him on the bed.
She sat down and the two were quiet for a bit
"I don't want to go to class" she finally said with a laugh
"Me neither...lay with me?" He asked.
Ella couldn't help but smile as she nodded. Fabian laid back on his bed and opened his arms.
She curled up and nestled into the contour of his body as he wrapped his strong arms around her.
"This is much better than practice" she said quietly
"Much better" Fabian murmured placing a soft kiss on the top of her head.