Ellie did as she was told, mentally throwing a tantrum the entire way up to Gryffindor Tower. She slammed her dormitory door behind her and threw her bag down on her bed. With a rather exaggerated huff, the redhead made her way into the bathroom, where she stripped out of her robes and uniform and looked at herself in the mirror.
She had no clue what Nikolai was talking about. She looked fine, like the average teenage girl. Until she moved closer...and she looked different...she knew her eyes were playing tricks on her...knew Nikolai had gotten into her head. She pinched the rounded skin of her stomach, turned on the side to examine it.
Ellie shook her head at herself. "No," she told herself. "This is Nikolai. I look fine. I look good. I look--"
She stopped when she realised she probably looked crazy to anyone who would have come in and heard her. Ellie put her robes back on, feeling happy and confident, knowing she looked good to anyone else...just not so much to herself. All because of Nikolai.
Ellie jumped back onto her bed and stared at the roof, thinking to herself. She had to get herself an owl.
When the Easter Holidays came around, Ellie grew somewhat excited thinking she could go home...she could not, after receiving another letter from her parents...but then she thought Nikolai would return home again. He didn't. Ellie grew suspicious of her parents letters, saying both times that she had to stay at Hogwarts. She thought perhaps that they knew she had questions about Nikolai, and they just couldn't face her wrath.
It was the worst week of her life. She was starving the whole time and when Nikolai caught her accepting easter eggs from Lavender and Parvarti in the corridor, he gripped the back of her neck so hard it left a dark red hand print.
Between Nikolai and the upcoming exams, Ellie grew terribly miserable as she treaded back and forth to the library, clutching her rumbling stomach every time.
One weekend afternoon, Nikolai brought Ellie down to the lake with him and his usual group. They were skimming rocks across the lake, hoping to catch a glimpse of the giant squid. Ellie began to feel faint and lightheaded and took a seat on the grass, clutching her head. Nikolai was grinning at the lake, and turned to look at Ellie.
"Elyssa, what are you doing on the ground? Come, I'll show you how to do it."
"I know how to do it," she mumbled, staring hard at the grass. It felt like her body was shutting itself down. "I just feel...ill. I need a minute."
But Nikolai didn't even give her a second before he started towards her and pulled her up. He walked over, holding onto her, and shoved a stone into her hand. Ellie tried to argue with him by saying her head hurt, but he wasn't having it. He wanted her to join in has he called it.
"Go on," he said, and he let her go.
And she stumbled back, her body having shut down completely. Next thing she knew, she was on the ground and the only thing filling her ears was static. Since looking up she could see that Nikolai was angry and he was mouthing off at her...she just couldn't hear him yet. Second by second, it began to come clear.
"...doing on the ground? I'm not touching you now you're covered in muck! Malfoy."
Draco came around and Ellie avoided eye contact with him before she felt his arms under hers, and she was hoisted up like a rag doll. She began to wobble when she was back on her feet and she felt Draco hold onto her more firmly.
"Hello?" Nikolai clicked in front of Ellie's face. "Take the stone. Skim it. And don't fall like such a girl this time."
Crabbe and Goyle began to laugh. Ellie furrowed her eyebrows at Nikolai but said nothing, only taking the stone from his hand. Draco was still holding onto her, and Nikolai noticed.
"Let her go now, Malfoy," Nikolai said quietly, his eyes on Ellie. She grew worried in a heartbeat. Ellie felt Draco's hands hesitantly leave her and she focused hard on staying on her feet. "Good. Now skim it."
But her vision began to blur and she began to stagger backwards again. Hands grabbed her again, but it wasn't Draco. It was Nikolai, and he was angry. He held her up to him and she feared the seething look on his face. And then she yelped as he threw her to the ground.
"Fine. You want to go on the ground you can stay there!" Nikolai yelled at her.
Ellie sat up, her head pounding, and looked up at Nikolai with teary eyes. She wanted to defend herself so badly but she just couldn't. The lack of food in her system was shutting her down and she had no energy to even speak.
Draco approached her again and help her up, keeping an arm wrapped around her back and holding one of her hands. Nikolai squinted at the pair of them.
"I'm taking her to the hospital wing," Draco said in a simple voice, not waiting for a response as he turned around with Ellie.
"Whatever. Do whatever you want with her, what do I care?" Nikolai said in a loud bored voice before cursing under his breath.
They said nothing to each other as they walked away up the grounds. Ellie focused on her breathing as her head began to feel like it was taking hammers to it again. Her body had a mind of it's own and before she knew what was happening, she lurched forward.
"Whoa," Draco caught her in time, holding her tighter. "It would probably be easier if I carried you but--"
"But I'm fat and disgusting, I know," Ellie muttered, staring ahead.
"No," Draco replied. "I was actually going to say it would be embarrassing for me. You're not fat. You're anything but. You look like you could use a good meal. I'm gathering that's why you're so...well...swoony."
"Yeah..."
As soon as they walked through the Entrance Hall, Ellie could smell the food coming from the Great Hall and almost died at how good it smelled in there.
"This way," she said enthusiastically, grabbing harder onto Draco's hand as though to steer him.
"You sure you don't want to get checked out first? I can bring you--"
"No, this way, I need to go this way," Ellie insisted.
Draco looked torn between the hospital wing and the Great Hall. "Ellie...he'll kill me if he sees I've let you go in there. Besides, if Pansy's in there and sees..."
Ellie slumped her shoulders and sighed. "You're right. It would put you in a bad position if he found out. You'll really bring me something if I go to Madame Pomfrey?"
Draco's mouth turned to the side, almost like a half smirk...or smile..."Yeah. I will."
Ellie nodded and allowed Draco to hold onto her as he walked her up to the hospital wing, where Madame Pomfrey approached them immediately. The woman directed Ellie to sit on a bed so that she could examine her, and Draco awkwardly took a seat on a stray chair beside her.
Madame Pomfrey grabbed onto Ellie's face and turned it from side to side before placing a hand against Ellie's forehead. Frowning, the woman turned to look down at the rest of her.
"Miss Greer, have you been eating much?" she asked kindly. "Your cheekbones have...become more clear and beneath your eyes has shrunken."
Ellie looked at Draco from the corner of her eye and saw him just sitting there, watching.
"No, what are you doing, Malfoy? Food!" Ellie reminded him, to which he nodded and ran off. The redhead turned back to the nurse.
"Yes, yes that would do you some good I think."
"I've just been stressing lately about my O.W.L exams. I suppose eating has just...slipped my mind," Ellie lied.
"Right, well I'll get you something that should fix the lightheadedness -- not eating will do that to you."
When Draco returned with a plate full of food, Ellie nearly died right there on that bed. HE noticed how she beamed and he smirked at her.
"I'm getting a major sense of deja vu right now," Ellie smiled at the boy, taking the plate from him.
"Aren't we all?" Madame Pomfrey said sterny, raising an eyebrow at Ellie. "You're not to go anywhere until you finish that plate off and drink what I've given you."
When Madame Pomfrey waddled off, Draco sat beside Ellie where he was before. The redhead thought the sight of food would make her scoff it all in one go, but instead she found herself picking one by one at the grapes off to the side.
"You got me bread. And you got me chicken," Ellie pouted, feeling rather joyous for once. She looked at Draco. "You truly are the best."
"Glad to see you're in better spirits," Draco said, raising an eyebrow.
"You can go if you want," said Ellie before looking down. "But I wanted to ask you something."
"What?"
"Have I done something wrong? Like, have I offended you, or...?"
"No?" Draco said, sounding sincerely confused. "Why?"
"Well, why have you been keeping your distance from me lately? You aren't the same," Ellie confessed, watching the Slytherin boy's reaction. He seemed genuinely bewildered before, but now it looked as though something had clicked.
Draco looked into her eyes, but then he looked away. "We study together in the library every week. Don't see how I could possibly keep my distance."
"You've been quiet and...haven't really looked at me," said Ellie. "So, I thought perhaps when you mistook what I was saying last Hogsmeade weekend for me fancying you or something. I promise I don't. Is that what it's about?"
"No," said Draco, rather quickly too. "No. I know. That's not it."
"Then what is it?"
"Just drop it," the boy said in an annoyed voice. "Nothing's wrong."
Ellie leaned back. "Fine."
"You should eat," said Draco, not looking at her. "You need it."