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When the two of them eventually walked back to the common room, George kept his arm over Elle protectively. He wanted her to know that he didn't hate her and he wished he could convey to her that nothing about her brother could be blamed on her. She had nothing to do with him yet she understood why this must be hard.
The next few weeks went a lot better for Elle than she'd expected, she had decided not to tell anyone else about what had happened over the summer but confiding in George had taken a weight off her shoulders. Lessons continued as usual and the brunette found herself able to concentrate in lessons now she knew her friends weren't going to turn against her.
Rekindling the close bond she'd had with Alicia wasn't the easiest thing in the world however, both girls seemed quite distant and Elle found herself wanting to hang around with the twins rather than spend time with the other girls. She wasn't sure what had happened over the summer but Alicia had become more like them which could be seen through her joining in their gossips about boys rather than rolling her eyes and caring more about the way she looked.
Alicia just said she was growing up but Elle didn't see it that way, out of all the girls Elle had always felt she bonded with Alicia the most but now it wasn't working and the relationship felt forced which was difficult for Elle to comprehend. From the gossip she overheard it sounded as though Lauren had reconciled with her boyfriend Chase through sending each other gifts while Katie was talking a lot to a boy in Ravenclaw.
"Elle if you had to date someone in this school who would it be?" Lauren looked up from the floor where the other four girls where sitting. The brunette was sitting on her bed reading lord of the rings for the tenth time trying not to join into the conversation however this obviously wasn't working,
"Dumbledore" Elle smirked sarcastically causing Lauren to roll her eyes,
"Seriously Elle we all did it"
"Who did you say?" Elle muttered trying to sound interested,
"Well I said Chase obviously, Katie said Owen you know the boy from Ravenclaw, Angelina said Fred and Alicia said George" Elle looked up at Ally who had blushed slightly at the mention of their names,
"How cute would that be if you two dated Fred and George" Katie giggled excitedly "you know because you're best friends and all"
Elle wasn't jealous. Of course she wasn't because that would be ridiculous Alicia was aloud to like anyone she wanted.
"Yeah would be cute" Elle smiled, however this came out sounding more sour than she'd intended and the room fell quiet for a moment,
"So what about you Elle" Lauren pressed on,
"I already told you" the brunette hid her face behind the book hoping they would just leave her alone,
"Fine whatever but we all saw you and George sneak off the other week"
Elle's heart was pounding at this point as she lowered the book slowly and noticed Alicia was looking at the floor rather than at her. She was overcome by the same feeling of panic that she had felt when her and George had been in the common room because she knew that she couldn't tell the truth of what had happened that day,
"That was nothing" Elle blurted nervously but Lauren just raised her eyebrows,
"So you would care if Alicia and George went out together" she continued, Elle had never wanted to punch Lauren more than she did in this moment,
"No of course I wouldn't" Elle lied.
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After that night things became a lot worse for Elle and Alicia, the brunette's avoided each other at all costs. Elle didn't know what Ally thought of her now but Elle couldn't help but be annoyed at her. She hadn't even done anything wrong and it wasn't as though she liked George anymore than a friend she just didn't like the idea of Alicia being with him. It didn't make any sense to her why she would feel this way and it irritated her that she did.
Elle found herself not hanging around the girls at all as it seemed they only liked talking about boys which Elle didn't care about. Instead she sat with the twins and Lee most of the time. This was counterproductive when she was trying to get work done but overall it was quite fun.
Another two weeks had past since the awkward incident in the common rooms and Elle and Alicia hadn't talked to each other at all. Alicia was slowly transforming into someone else and it seemed only Elle could notice it. She'd started brushing out her curls more and leaving them in plaits so they looked less bushy. She'd also borrowed Lauren's makeup and rolled up her skirt more when she got ready.
Elle really wasn't a judgemental person but she didn't like how Alicia was changing, she worried that she felt pressure to change as the other girls were more into makeup fashion etc when Elle personally had never been. However it was Alicia's life and she could do what she wanted.
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It was a Wednesday afternoon when Elle walked into the common room to get changed for dinner and found Alicia was the only one in there. She froze for a moment before continuing what she was doing. Alicia ignored her as she pulled out her favourite jeans and knitted jumper from her suitcase. She put them on hurriedly and was about to leave when she heard the girls voice ring out from behind her.
"Elle are you jealous of me" she froze again and turned around to see Alicia now perched on the end of her bed smiling sweetly. She'd tied her hair back into a tight bun and was wearing bright red lipstick which stood out against her skin,
"No, should I be?" Elle replied confused to why Ally had chosen this moment to talk to her,
"Because ever since you found out I liked George you've been avoiding me"
"I haven't deliberately been avoiding you I've just been busy" Elle lied.
"I think he likes me too" she continued as Elle attempted to turn away wanting nothing more than to run out of this room and down to the great hall,
"That's great then" Elle grimaced,
"I know you like him as well" Alicia was still talking, she rose to her feet now but was a lot shorter than Elle so it wasn't that intimidating,
"I don't"
"You're just jealous that he likes me more than you"
Elle couldn't be bothered with this anymore, honestly she just wanted to go downstairs and eat her roast dinner but Alicia was relentless and didn't seem to want to stop hassling Elle,
"I'm not jealous at all Alicia honestly I've been avoiding you because you've changed over the summer and if this is who you want to be then great I'm happy for you but I don't think it is and while all you do is talk about boys and makeup, I'd rather not hang around with you" with that Elle turned and walked out of the common room slamming the door behind her as she went.
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Alicia watched as Elle slammed the door behind her and suddenly felt a wave of sadness wash over her.
"You idiot" she muttered to herself and she fell back on her bed and resisted the urge not to burst into tears. The truth was that Elle was completely right, Alicia had changed and not because she wanted to. She was worried the other girls wouldn't accept her as much if she wasn't like them. She was worried that she didn't fit in, she felt insecure and shy all of the time.
She had never wanted a boyfriend, just like Elle she considered herself too young and too immature. Boys were usually the worst anyways but spending so much time with Angelina over the summer and hearing her talk about them constantly had made her think that she should feel this way too... and she didn't.
However by trying to fit in more with the other girls Alicia had accidentally managed to push Elle away.
Elle had been her best friend last year through everything, she loved Angelina but her and Elle had an almost sister like bond that she'd never experienced before with anyone else. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought of the words Elle had snapped at her. Who was she trying to be? All that stuff about George was bullshit she didn't even know why she said it.
She liked George as a friend but nothing more than that, she'd said him because she couldn't think of anyone else after that she'd just ran with it. She didn't know what had compelled her to act like that towards Elle, it wasn't her at all and now she was deeply regretting it. Why couldn't everything just go back to the way it had been last year when everything was so much easier?
Alicia made her way down to the hall after wiping the lipstick off her face, she hadn't liked it anyway. When she entered the hall she saw Elle sitting next to Fred and George laughing and joking around with them. Further along the table Alicia saw the three girls who seemed to be having a lot less fun. Ally knew which table she wanted to sit at but she also knew that if she sat with them it would be awkward.
Because of this she walked straight past Elle and the twins and went to sit next to Angelina,
"Alicia you're finally here where the hell have you been" Lauren beamed,
"Just getting ready" Ally lied,
"I just had the best idea" Katie smiled "we should all make an effort to ask out our crushes how fun would that be"
"I don't know Kate I don't really want a boyfriend" Ally sighed. Katie shrugged as the other three continued talking excitedly about the plans.
Ally found herself looking down the table at the others, Elle was in stitches laughing at something the twins had said. It was as though the instance they'd had in the common room hadn't affected her at all, it was as though she didn't care how distant the two of them had become. Alicia turned back to her group and pretended to join in knowing that there was probably no going back now.
Elle had definitely been affected by what had happened in the common room, she was trying to play if off the best she could to avoid seeming weak or stupid. The twins were talking about a prank they'd pulled with peeves earlier in the week. Truthfully Elle had already heard about it multiple times but she pretended to laugh along anyway occasionally looking up at Ally who was laughing and talking with the other girls. She guessed she'd made her choice.
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