It was quite obvious that something had happened between Eleanor and Marnie, Fred didn't need Cedric to confirm it with the latest gossip. When he walked into Transfiguration, he found Eleanor out of her usual seat, while Marnie was still sitting at their usual table. The entire time, they avoided any and all eye contact with each other, which was easier for Eleanor as she focused on her knitting. But as Fred grew closer, he could hear Eleanor swearing to herself as she dropped a stitch.
Carefully, he approached where she was sitting and took the seat next to her. He waited to be acknowledged patiently for about a good minute or so, however, Eleanor's temper only seemed to grow as she started fighting with the yarn. And just before she looked ready to lose her mind, Fred reached out a hand and placed it over hers to get Eleanor to stop. But it didn't go exactly as planned as she jumped in her chair, dropping all of her knitting to the floor.
"What have I told you about sneaking up on me?" she asked him as she picked up her things from the floor.
Fred gave a shrug of his shoulders. "That you thoroughly enjoy it?"
"No," she said poking him on the nose. "I don't enjoy it."
"Oh well, must have slipped my mind," he answered, "but moving on to more important things. Is there a particular reason as to why you're not sitting with Marnie?"
He could see the way her jaw clenched tightly but she immediately went back to focusing on her knitting as she answered. "We're not on speaking terms right now."
"Why?"
"I really rather not discuss it right now," Eleanor said quietly. "I'll tell you about it later. But why are you here without- "
Before she could finish her question, the answer came running through the door as George burst into the classroom, appearing quite out of breath and sweaty.
"Uh, George, what have you been up to and why are you-"
It seemed Eleanor would never get the chance to ask what the hell was going on when she was interrupted again by the sound of something exploding outside of the classroom in the corridor. Just as she went to question what the noise was and turned around in her seat, Fred grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her back around.
"Don't turn around!" he instructed her. "Just focus on your knitting!"
There was little time for her to respond when Professor McGonagall came into the classroom, clearly flustered by whatever had taken place outside. While Eleanor attempted to focus on her knitting, she couldn't help but look up as McGonagall approached where they were all sitting. She didn't look at Eleanor initially, but more so focused her attention on the twins.
"Messrs Weasley," she said, "how long have you two been in here?"
"Goodness, Professor," Fred sighed, "it feels like we've been here for ages. We've been havin' a nice chat with Ellie here. Isn't that right, love?"
As if she had suddenly found herself in an interrogation room, all eyes fell on Eleanor, and she could feel her entire body tense up under Professor McGonagall's stern stare.
"Is this true, Ms Ross? Have they been with you for the last ten minutes or so?"
There was a quick pleading look in Fred's eyes as he silently begged her to go along with it.
"Yes, Professor," Eleanor answered finally, "we showed up a bit early to class because the Great Hall was too loud. We've been talking here for a bit."
While Professor McGonagall didn't look convinced, she wouldn't argue with Eleanor and she didn't say anything to the twins as they provided an alibi. But as soon as she walked away to investigate whatever it was, Eleanor turned to the twins and unleashed a series of smacks onto their arms.
"You gits! You're getting me to lie for you now?"
George smiled as he patted her on the back. "Congrats, Ellie, you're officially part of the crew. That was to test your loyalty and you passed. McGonagall didn't know what to do, that goody two shoe reputation worked well in our favour."
"Don't worry, Ellie," Fred reassured her, " we would do the same for you."
"The difference is you wouldn't have to lie for me!"
"You say that now."
"And I mean it!"
To cement the new partnership, the twins sat on either side of Eleanor at the table and if she didn't feel small already sitting between the two burly beaters, she certainly felt small when Professor McGonagall re-entered the classroom and gave her a passing glance. She turned around to avoid the professor's gaze, wanting to see if Cedric had entered the class and thankfully, he had taken to sitting with Marnie so that she wasn't seated alone. But as she turned around, Marnie looked away with a shake of her head, while Cedric looked worried.
What had she gotten herself into that year?
After class, the twins stole Eleanor away to join them for lunch, bringing her to sit with them at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. And it didn't take long for Fred to start up with the questions as to why she and Marnie weren't talking to one another. She tried to put it in a way that they wouldn't take offence to it.
"So, she's angry with you because you've been spending more time with us?" George asked as he wanted to confirm what they had been told.
"It seems that way, but don't take it personally," Eleanor said. "I think Cedric was right when he said that she's probably feeling left out."
"We never said she couldn't join us," Fred pointed out, but Eleanor shook her head.
"It's not that simple for her. I know a lot of people think that she's rude and blunt, or that she doesn't come across as friendly, but it takes her a long time to warm up to people. Her family has really done a number on her trust issues and insecurities. If it isn't her parents pointing out her flaws, it's her older siblings. She can't catch a break when she's home, so school is her escape. But even then, I don't think she feels comfortable around a lot of people."
Fred and George exchanged glances with one another, knowing they could relate to Marnie's dilemma in some way. Far too often they were compared to their older brothers and their mother had a tendency to nit-pick their interests to the point where they didn't think they could ever please her.
"I've always wondered what it's like to be an only child, "Fred said out loud, before getting a look from George, "oh, like you haven't been curious before!"
"Do you want the honest truth?" Eleanor asked them, watching as they both came to nod their heads.
"It's quiet, at least in my experience. Incredibly quiet and sometimes, it gets really lonely. If your friends aren't around, you're pretty much on your own. Maybe it's felt lonelier because it's just been my mum and me. And up until this past Christmas, she hasn't really been involved in my life, despite the fact that we've been living under the same roof for years."
Fred remembered the letters sent back and forth over the Christmas holiday, how happy Eleanor had been when she told him that her mother was finally coming around and attempting to learn more about the wizarding world.
"I always wished I had a sibling to turn to," she continued, " even if they were a muggle, just so I could share some things because even though my mum is coming around now, I'm terrified of sharing the wrong thing with her and having her lose her mind. She doesn't even know about when the Chamber of Secrets was opened and students were being petrified, I made sure of that. Could you imagine telling that to someone who has no concept of magic? She would have immediately pulled me out of school, and I would be back at square one. Sitting in my room alone, probably knitting, and unable to interact with anyone in our community."
Whenever Eleanor spoke about her home life, Fred felt a sense of guilt settle in his chest, making him think that he didn't have the right to complain about his situation at home. While he didn't find his mother to be the most supportive, he couldn't imagine what it was like growing up in a household where his mother feared him and made him stay in his room all alone.
"I take you live in a muggle community then," George said, "do you think you'll move to a wizarding neighbourhood when you leave Hogwarts?"
"That's the plan," Eleanor told him, "I want to be able to use my magic freely and not hide it all the time. I did enough of that growing up. I guess that's why I became so close with Marnie and Cedric back in first year. When I came here, I was finally able to be around other children my age. They're pretty much the closest thing I have to siblings and even if I'm angry with her, I still consider Marnie to be family, along with Cedric. But I would love to have what you two have."
"You might want to reconsider that, love," Fred chuckled. "It's one thing to have a couple of siblings or just one but having seven children under a roof at one point, all fighting for attention, it gets ugly really fast."
"Imagine constant fighting over absolutely nothing," George added, " there's only one toilet in our house, so that's always been a battle. We have to share everything. Hand-me-downs all the time from clothes to brooms."
"You don't get a moment to yourself."
"You're always being compared to your older sibling."
"You always have to look after your younger siblings."
"You get in trouble if they do something."
"You also get in trouble if they don't do something."
Eleanor looked between them as they went back and forth giving multiple reasons as to why they didn't want to have siblings. Of course, the entire time they were smiling.
"And despite everything you two just told me, I have a feeling you wouldn't have it any other way, "Eleanor interjected. "Even now, you two would be completely lost without each other, admit it."
"I don't know," George said, looking off into the distance, "a holiday would be nice."
Suddenly, Fred gasped, clutching his hand to his chest. "After all we've been through, my own brother!"
"Don't worry, you've got four other brothers to fall back on, and Ginny!"
"George!" Eleanor laughed as Fred started to fake sob into his hands. "That's so mean! You wouldn't know what to do with yourself if Fred wasn't with you!"
Thinking about her conversation with the Weasley twins and knowing damn well that she couldn't stay angry forever, Eleanor decided it was probably best that she look for Marnie so they could talk. Marnie was the closest thing she had to a sister, and Fred and George made it clear that siblings often found things annoying about one another and fights were bound to happen. But jokes aside, Fred and George told her that at the end of the day, no matter how much they bickered, they all still loved each other.
When Eleanor didn't find Marnie in the Common Room, she quickly headed to the dorms where she found Marnie sitting on her bed, alone. As soon as Eleanor walked in, she looked up and the two girls stared at each other for a few moments. Rather than waiting for Marnie to say something, Eleanor made her way over and sat on her friend's bed beside her.
"Marnie, we really need to talk."
"You're not here to break up with me, are you?"
Feeling the desire to roll her eyes, Eleanor resisted and took a deep breath to remain calm. She didn't want to fight anymore.
"Can we just be serious for a minute?"
"Oh, now you want to be serious?" Marnie replied. "Are you sure you can spare the time to have this conversation, Ellie? I know your schedule must be so full now between all the pranks and spending time with your new boy toys-"
"Marnie, stop it!" Eleanor said in such a firm voice that it reminded Marnie of McGonagall for a moment. "You're not being fair about this at all. I've done nothing wrong and you know that. I have always been a good friend to you. I know this year, things have been a bit different, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. The time was going to come where we meet other people and end up doing different things. That's okay because, at the end of the day, you're still going to be my best friend. No one, and I mean, no one can replace you."
Marnie fell silent for a moment before glancing up at her. "Really?"
"Of course, you git!" Eleanor said as she pushed Marnie over on the bed. "You're the sister I've always wanted. And that means we're going to fight and have our disagreements, but I'm not going to stay angry with you forever. I just want you to tell me things instead of waiting until you get upset. Because then I get upset and I don't know what to do when I can't turn to you when I need you! And...and..."
Suddenly, Eleanor started tearing up, leaving Marnie to look slightly panicked at the sudden shift of emotions.
"Ugh, don't cry, Ellie! You know it makes me uncomfortable when people cry!"
"Well, I missed you!"
"Yeah, I missed you too! Now get over here, you big cry baby!"
Marnie quickly pulled Eleanor into a hug and the two embraced for a few moments as Eleanor continued to sniffle.
"I'm sorry for being a total arse," Marnie said quietly, " I didn't mean to get nasty with you. I just got jealous, that's all. It felt like you were always with the twins and Cedric is always with Cho, I didn't know what to think. I understand that Cedric and I haven't treated you the best, I guess I got a taste of that. And on top of that, just having to see Cedric drool over stupid Cho-"
"Marnie..."
"I know, I know, she's not stupid and it's not her fault. But I always think that if you and Cedric find people better than me, you'll...you'll...you'll both forget about me."
Eleanor pulled away from the hug and held Marnie by the shoulders with a bewildered look.
"Cedric and I could never forget about you, Marnie. There is no one out there that can fill your shoes. Not Cho, not the twins."
With a sniffle of her own, Marnie ran the sleeve of her robes under her nose. "Damn right. I'm fucking fantastic."
The two started laughing until Eleanor sighed in relief. "I feel a lot better now. Even if we didn't go very long without talking to each other, you don't know how sad I was without you."
"Even with those two fireballs around you?"
"Yes, Marnie, and you don't have to sound so annoyed when you talk about them. Outside of the pranks, they're actually really sweet and nice. And the more you get to know them, they're not just this one entity that everyone considers them to be. They're actually two different people."
"Two different people that made you get a detention for the first time."
"Can I tell you something?"
"Sure."
"I actually really enjoyed it. The pranking, even the detention. I know it sounds weird, but it felt good. I felt like I wasn't boring."
"Ellie, you're not boring, you've never been boring."
"You don't have to be nice, Marnie. I know I've been considered boring. I come from a boring town, in boring Cornwall, my whole life has been boring. Then I come here and even with magic, I still manage to come across as boring."
Not willing to listen to any Eleanor slander, even if it was coming from Eleanor, Marnie grabbed her best friend by the sides of her face and forced her to look at her.
"Now, you listen to me, Ellie," she said, "you're not boring. I don't associate with boring people; I get enough of that with my family. And I highly doubt if you were as boring as you say you are, the top pranksters at this school would have looked your way."
"I think their main interest is how I dodge all their attempts of pranking me."
"Bullshit," Marnie shook her head. "Maybe that's how it started off, but I've seen you and Fred together. Yes, I finally figured out which one is which. He's been hanging around you and there hasn't been a prank involved. As your blunt best friend, it is my duty to point out the obvious, and it's pretty damn obvious that you two are into each other. Don't think just because we weren't talking that I didn't notice things. The way he looks at you, is far different than the way George looks at you."
Rubbing her hands together, Eleanor looked away, not willing to admit to anything Marnie was talking about. Instead, she could hear Marnie's stomach grumbling in the silence of the room.
"Do you want to sneak into the kitchens and get some food?"
"How dare you use food to try and switch topics!"
"Did it work?"
"Yes, it did, now move, you slag, I'm starving!"