Days leading up to the First Task, Eleanor found herself trying to fill every waking moment with her knitting as it seemed to be the only thing that could offer a proper distraction from the talk of the Tournament. Since no one knew what to expect for the First Task, plenty of students had been theorizing what they believed it would be, and some of the theories nearly made her heart skip a beat. Was it too much to ask for a year with little to no drama? Of course, if Marnie were to deliver the answer, she would venture to say yes, it was too much to ask for because Harry Potter still attended the school.
However, Eleanor would not bring herself to put blame on Harry, the boy was under enough stress as it was. The majority of the school didn't seem to care for him very much since his name had been called, and he and Ron were still not on good terms with one another. Leaving Hermione in the awkward position of going back and forth between the two of them. And Eleanor could certainly sympathise in some respects because as of late, she felt like she was constantly going back and forth between Marnie and Cedric.
There had been no argument or fight, but Eleanor could sense there was something between them, even though they still smiled and laughed when they were all around each other. But perhaps it was the way that Marnie would talk about other boys in the castle, and Cedric would quickly excuse himself to go and find Cho. She had hoped with the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade, that she could convince the two of them to accompany her for the day, wanting to spend time together like they had done so in the past.
"Sorry, Ellie," Marnie said after Eleanor had asked her that very morning, "I promise we'll go on the next trip together, but I have a date."
There was a loud clanking sound that caused Eleanor and Marnie to jump before they looked over to see that Cedric had dropped the goblet he had been holding in his hand. His juice had spilt all over the table, right onto his trousers, but he didn't seem to mind or rather he didn't care as he continued to look at Marnie with a surprised stare.
"You have a date?" he repeated. "With who? How come I'm only hearing about this now?"
Marnie bit into a piece of her bacon nonchalantly. "That's because we kept it on the low and didn't tell anyone," she said, "you don't have to know when everything happens, Cedric, goodness. And if you two must know, I'm going on a date with Lee Jordan."
It was Eleanor's turn to drop the fork in her hand, bringing Marnie to reach across the table and pull all the silverware and dishes away from the two before they could make any more noise.
"Lee?" Eleanor said. "But I thought you were looking at the boys from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang?"
"Well, I was," she said, "but then I was thinking about it and do I really want to commit myself to a long-distance relationship? I don't think so. Besides, I didn't ask him, he asked me first. It's not a big deal, it's just a date. If we both like it, we'll go on another one and see where it goes from there."
Once she got over the shock of it all, Eleanor found herself happy for Marnie because it really did seem like she had moved on from her childhood crush. Maybe she hadn't expected Marnie to date Lee of all people, nothing against him, but she had never mentioned him even in passing, so it appeared to be out of the blue. However, Eleanor liked Lee, she thought he was funny and kind, and he was good friends with Fred and George, which would make it easier for all of them to spend time together if it worked out.
"That's great, Marnie, I hope you two have fun," Eleanor told her before turning to Cedric, "well, I guess that just leaves me and you- "
"Sorry, Ellie, I just remembered that I have a date with Cho at Hogsmeade. Next time though."
Cedric didn't say anything else as he grabbed his wand to clean up the spill and once the juice had been cleared away from the table and his trousers, he left the table abruptly and walked over to where Cho was sitting. Marnie excused herself, claiming she wanted to get ready for her date, leaving Eleanor to sit quietly at the Hufflepuff table by herself.
Left alone, Eleanor attempted to start knitting to keep herself occupied, but only after a minute or so, she gave up, not really in the mood to even work on her favourite hobby.
Hopefully looking up, Eleanor glanced over in the direction table, thinking that maybe the twins would be there, so she could ask them to spend the day in Hogsmeade, but they were nowhere in sight. Thinking that she could go by herself and just walk around, Eleanor was preparing to leave the Great Hall, when the post owls came in carrying the latest letters and thankfully, there was one for her.
Dear Ellie,
I wish there were more I could say that would offer you some peace of mind, unfortunately, this is a tricky situation. I don't believe for a second that Harry was the one who placed his name in the Goblet, but that only leaves the option that someone else put his name in. Which only leads to other questions of who and why? I know you don't have much faith in the Ministry, neither do I, but I believe that Dumbledore will treat this entire situation carefully and hopefully, launch an investigation to either get Harry out of the competition or make sure he had can compete safely.
In the meantime, I would advise you not to worry but I know as well as anyone else, that it is much easier said than done. You can reassure Harry that he's not alone, he still has plenty of people that are willing to support him during these times. Try to keep me updated as much as possible. I'll be waiting for your next letter.
Love,
Dad.
P.S. If a chocolate bar can't fix it, how about two?
Eleanor could only stifle a laugh as she pulled out two chocolate bars from the envelope. One of them she would definitely gift to Harry, thinking he would get a laugh out of it as well.
Dermot had waited long enough for his owner to read over the letter before he demanded to be acknowledged, pecking Eleanor's hand. She did her best to hold in her little yelp, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small owl treat. She had anticipated his arrival at some point in the day, making it a point to carry something to tip him with. However, clearly, Dermot didn't care much about his tips as he did when seeking attention. But he did gladly take the treat from her before Eleanor scratched the top of his head gently.
"You're absolutely spoiled, you know that?"
"My mother has mentioned it once or twice. But I disagree with her."
Looking up, Eleanor grinned when Doncho took a seat across from her, with his own plate of breakfast.
"I considered myself slightly pampered."
With another treat, Dermot took his leave, allowing Eleanor to grant Doncho her full attention.
"Sorry," he said, "I wasn't interrupting a bonding moment between you and your owl, was I?"
"No," she shook her head, "Dermot isn't exactly the cuddly type. I think he shows his means of affection through biting. We tend to keep our visits short because of it."
"I can imagine."
"How come you're here alone?" Eleanor asked rather bluntly. "Usually, the lot of you come in together."
"Well, they have plans to head to Hogsmeade, they wanted to see the village. I plan on going a little later, I was just hoping to ask someone to go with me after I finished my breakfast...but...wait, why are you here alone? Where are all your friends?"
"Two of them have dates, and I don't know where the others are. They probably made plans too. Who did you want to ask to go with you? Someone specifically?"
"Uh, well, actually..."
Fred had no idea where his twin had ventured off to and he would have asked Lee, but he couldn't find him either. Initially, the plan had been for them to head to the Great Hall, where they would hopefully find Eleanor and then they would make their way to Hogsmeade for the day. It felt completely odd to not have George by his side as he ventured through the corridors until he reached the Great Hall.
Immediately, his eyes darted in the direction of the Gryffindor table, scanning over the benches but neither one of them was there. He looked over at the Hufflepuff table where he quickly spotted Eleanor but also saw Doncho in her company.
The ever-loving need to scream filled his chest, especially as Eleanor wore such a bright and warm smile that morning. She seemed to be in the midst of saying something when another boy from Durmstrang approached the table, and suddenly, she was blushing like mad and from where Fred was standing, he could see Doncho blushing as well. It was like they had been caught as the other boy grinned at the two of them.
Quickly, Doncho seemed to excuse himself and left with the other boy, the two of them walking past Fred without a second glance. Fred went to turn and leave, feeling such a sting of embarrassment, even though he didn't know why deciding that he would just go to Hogsmeade by himself.
And after his arrival, Fred walked alone for what felt like forever, keeping an eye out for George or any of his friends, only to finally find Lee. He was going to approach him only when he saw Marnie sitting in his company, leaving him in a state of bewilderment as Lee had made no mention of asking Eleanor's friend on a date. He couldn't bring himself to interrupt them as he continued to walk on and a little while later, he spotted Cedric, walking with Cho through the village.
Apparently, both of Eleanor's best friends had made plans for the day, and just when Fred was about to make another theory of his own, he saw Doncho in the distance with his friend that had joined him from the Great Hall. So, if Eleanor wasn't with Marnie, wasn't with Cedric, and wasn't with Doncho, where was she? Why hadn't she bothered to come to Hogsmeade?
"Freddie!"
Whipping around, Fred saw George approaching him, looking happy before he glanced around, replacing his happiness with confusion.
"Where's Ellie?"
"What do you mean where's Ellie? Where have you been? Have you been here this entire time?"
George stared at him before shaking his head. "You didn't ask her to go to Hogsmeade, did you? Fred! It was the perfect opportunity for you to do so! Lee's on a date, I hurried off this morning so that you and Ellie could be alone without me third-wheeling. Where is she? You were supposed to ask her on a date!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know that? Besides, I was going to ask her to go to Hogsmeade, but I thought she had made plans with Doughnut Boy."
"Clearly not, I saw him not too long ago with his friend, and it wasn't Ellie, so what are you doing?!"
Fred let out a groan, ready to argue that George and Lee could have told him what they were up to instead of making him feel like a complete and total arse.
But rather than wasting any more time, he decided to head back to the castle, hoping that Eleanor would be around. He made his way to the courtyard first and then the Great Hall, having no such luck. However, as he was on his way to the library, he found her.
She was sitting on the floor of a corridor, her legs out in front of her and her knitting her lap as she stared ahead blankly at the wall. She looked beyond bored, leaving Fred to feel guilty that she had been alone for most of the day. Making his way over, he sat beside her, placing his back against the stone wall.
"Have you been here all day, love?" he asked.
A small smile appeared on her lips, but she didn't look over at him. "No, I've been pretty much all over the castle at this point. I was in the Great Hall, then I went to the Common Room, then I went for a walk on the grounds...somehow, I ended up here. Peeves kept me company for a little bit."
"Peeves? He kept you company?"
"Yes, he decided he was going to sing me a song while calling me Loony Loopy Lupin Jr. He was having a good laugh to himself until I called him unoriginal. I told him that he couldn't come up with a better name to insult me with, so he recycled the one he used for my dad. He didn't like that at all. I swore I heard him crying and I'm fairly sure he probably went to the library looking for a dictionary to come up with some other L words to insult me with."
"Well, I guess that would be considered a successful day if you made Peeves cry," Fred said, "how come you didn't go to Hogsmeade?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Everyone apparently had plans. I thought about going by myself, but I figured I wouldn't have as much fun. Did you and George enjoy yourselves?"
"I didn't stay for long; I was wondering where you were. I thought you were going to Hogsmeade with Doorbell?"
"Doorbell?" Eleanor finally peered over at him. "Do you mean Doncho? And why would you think that?"
Fred swallowed as he pulled at the collar of his shirt, as it suddenly felt tight around his neck.
"Well, I saw you two talking this morning, I figured you asked him to go."
"Why would you assume that?"
"Because..."
"Because why?"
"I said because."
"And I asked because why."
"Does it matter?"
"It does."
"Ellie!"
"Fred!"
Suddenly, Fred could only watch in slight horror as a grin started to form on Eleanor's lips. He was at a loss for words, especially as Eleanor started leaning towards him. He focused his gaze forward, doing his best not to blush furiously in her presence.
"You wouldn't happen to be jealous of Doncho, would you, love?"
If it were possible, Fred would have been rendered into a puddle, whether it was because Eleanor had made sure to whisper the question in his ear, causing his body to ignite in a tingly sensation, or rather because she had dared to call him "love" as he often did with her.
Get a grip, he told himself, get a hold of yourself.
Hoping to turn things back on her, Fred turned his head so that their lips were practically brushing up against one another.
"Now, why would I be jealous?"
No, he was losing it, especially as Eleanor tucked her hand under his chin gently, holding his face in place so they were making eye contact.
"Because..."
Her hand slipped away, and she stood up abruptly, leaving Fred to damn near kiss the air. She grabbed her things and started walking down the corridor. He couldn't even recover in time to stop her, leaving him to sit by himself in a daze long after she was gone.
It was the Monday after the trip to Hogsmeade, which proved to be a successful time for Marnie, her date had gone well. Well enough that she and Lee were already talking about going on a second date. During the time that they were headed to Professor Flitwick's class, Marnie had been stopped by Lee, telling Cedric and Eleanor to go on without her.
"Don't you think it's odd that the two of them are dating?" Cedric suddenly asked Eleanor as they walked together. "I mean, it came out of nowhere. You and Fred have been flirting for a lot longer and still haven't asked each other out. Lee says one thing to Marnie in passing and they're already planning their second date."
Eleanor gave him a look, not really feeling joyous over her love life being brought into the mix of things.
"Everyone does things at their own pace, Queenie," she replied. "It took you over a year of working your Diggory Charm before you asked Cho on a proper date. And I'll fully admit that I have no idea what the hell I'm doing but that doesn't mean Marnie has to do the same thing. It's not like the two of them are getting engaged, they're just dating. I happen to think they're rather cute together."
"You do?!"
The way Cedric had rounded on her so fast, Eleanor didn't have time to prepare for herself as she stumbled back, only to crash into Harry. He barely managed to catch her but held onto Eleanor until Cedric helped her up to her feet.
"Thank you, Harry," she huffed, straightening her robes, before looking down at him, "are you alright? You look a bit peaky."
It was true, Harry did look quite pale and nervous as he stood in front of them. But rather than answering Eleanor directly, Harry turned to face Cedric.
"Cedric, the first task is dragons. They've got four, one for each of us, and we've got to get past them."