The fourth Quidditch match of the year came around, during the first weekend of March Gryffindor was playing against Hufflepuff. She went with Hermione, Neville and Harry to watch. Harry was obviously distraught from being forced not to play, but he did his best to hide it and show support for Ron and Ginny who had taken his place as the Gryffindor Seeker. George had been replaced too, and Fred quit because of it. The two of them had wreaked havoc around the school with their pranks for the last week, seemingly no longer very interested in Quidditch.
Draco Malfoy were nowhere to be seen, and she suspected he avoided the Quidditch pitch in order to surpress his sadness about the ban, even if his own house wasn't playing.
"Weasley is our king, Weasley is our king, he didn't let the quaffle in, Weasley is our king!" the whole Gryffindor stand sang. Ellie and Hermione had changed the lyrics of Draco's mean song about Ron, and they had made sure to teach every single Gryffindor student the new words in order to give Ron the support he deserved.
"Weasley can save anything, he never leaves a single ring, that's why the Gryffindors all sing Weasley is our king!"
The game was short, 22 minutes to be exact. Gryffindor lost the game to Hufflepuff with only ten points, even though Ginny had caught the snitch before the seeker who replaced Cedric. Everyone seemed quite pleased with this, except Ginny, who had wanted to win.
"You'll get them next time Gin" Ron encouraged her.
"Yes you're brilliant Ginny" Harry said, looking adoringly at her "catching the snitch after only twenty two minutes, that's excellent really"
She sneaked out of the common room as her friends talked, hurrying down the halls towards the cold and dark dungeons where she hid behind a suit of armor as she waited for Draco to come out of the Slytherin common room. It felt like forever until he finally appeared before her, walking out of the passage in the stone wall.
"Hey" she called out from her hiding place "psst Draco"
He quickly turned his head, confusion clear on his pale face. Then he saw her and his frown turned to a cheeky smile.
"Sneaking around the dungeons again are you Ellie?"
"Only to see you" she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him behind the suit of armor "how are you? I didn't see you at the game this afternoon"
"Oh yeah uhm, I didn't feel like going, I had better things to do than to watch Gryffindor and Hufflepuff flying around for hours"
"The game ended after twenty two minutes" she shrugged.
"What? Really?" he asked, rather surprised "who won?"
"Hufflepuff, but Ginny caught the golden snitch"
"So the Weasley girl has replaced Potter, how ironic" he said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah well she's quite good actually"
He nodded his head, looking away from her. His bright eyes scanned the dark hallway surrounding them, it was empty.
"Anyways..." she trailed, laying her hand on his shoulder "I hope you are well"
"I am" he sighed "don't worry about me"
"You missed my version of your song" she said, smirking at him.
"The Weasley song?" he asked, looking at her with a slight confusion in his eyes.
"Yup, I changed the lyrics, it's all nice and supportive now"
"Of course you did" he laughed, reaching his hand up to tuck a strand of her brown hair behind her ear "you're a good girl"
....
She was finding it harder and harder to hide Dumbledore's Army from Draco, since him and his friends accompanied by Filch and his cat was sneaking around the seventh floor of Hogwarts, desperately trying to catch them. Umbridge had been starting to interrogate students, and the Weasley twins had caused even more chaos in the school with their pranks.
One day, as she was walking back to the Gryffindor common room after learning the patronus charm by Harry, she stumbled upon Draco sitting at the end of the seventh floor.
"Hey" he called out as he saw her, quickly getting onto his feet "I was looking for you"
"Oh you were?" she asked, stopping in her tracks to look at him with a smile. He was wearing that awfully ugly badge that Umbridge had given him, and she wished that he would take it off and toss it away... or maybe just burn it.
"You're here a awful lot..." he trailed, looking around the corridor on the seventh floor.
"Yeah well what can I say? I like to roam the school as I think, you know me"
It was a obvious lie, something that she came up with from the top of her head. But he seemed to buy it seeing as he changed the subject.
"Well guess what I just did?"
"What?" she asked, gazing at him.
"I told you to guess" he laughed "come on, guess"
"Uhm alright, you... ate some muggle chocolate?"
"No, where would I get muggle chocolate? I finished the ones I got from you a long time ago, guess again" he said with a big smile upon his lips.
"You saw a butterfly?"
"No, come on you suck at this" he groaned.
"Just tell me Draco"
"I got Umbridge to lift the life long Quidditch ban on me, Potter and Weasley" he announced with a big grin.
"What?" she squealed, not believing him "really?"
"Yes"
"Oh my god Draco, that's amazing, I'm so happy for you" she said, dropping her book bag to the floor and she threw herself into his arms to hug him tightly "Harry and George will be so happy, and grateful too I imagine"
He wrapped his arms around her, entangling his fingers into her messy brown curls. He hummed in agreement as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck, smelling her flowery perfume. She stood on her tip toes, holding onto him like she was spellbound. She lingered for another moment, smelling his expensive cologne, before he let go.
"How did you manage to do that?" she asked, still barely believing his words.
"My sweet charm and some light threats about what my father could do to the ministry combined with how hard I've been working for the inquisitorial squad made the trick"
She laughed as she reached over to stroke his cheek, a smile upon her lips. He looked happy, like life was shining through his grey eyes once again.
"I have to go, I have Quidditch practice but meet me later to celebrate please?"
"Of course" she said, picking up her book bag from the stone floor "when and where?"
"The astronomy tower at eight"
"I'll be there" she said, giving him a sweet smile.
"Great, I'll see you later" he hummed before he walked off, looking back at her with one last smile before he turned the corner. She headed down the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room, eager to share the news with with her friends.
But when she reached the round room decked out in scarlet and bright gold, she was met with the clear observation that all of them already knew.
"Ellie what took you so long?" Hermione asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"Sorry I got caught up in some amazing news"
"If it's about Quidditch, we know" Hermione said, gazing between her and Harry "Harry and George are allowed to play again"
"Yes I know, congratulations" she smiled.
"Feels great" Harry smiled, sitting down on the couch as Ron patted him on his left shoulder.
"Yes of course" Hermione said, still standing up "but how? And why? Why would Umbridge randomly lift the ban now?"
"Maybe she's getting tired of the pranks those two insist on pulling everyday?" Ginny questioned, sitting down next to Harry on the couch. George and Fred high fived each other.
"I highly doubt it, the pranks have been going on for weeks and she has ignored them" Hermione said "she's up to something"
"No she's not" Ellie said, taking a step forward "or well of course she is, but not when it comes to this, Malfoy got the ban lifted"
Harry and Ron looked baffled and Fred and George looked curious.
"Malfoy?" Harry questioned.
"No way" Ron protested "he hates our guts, he wouldn't do that"
"Well his ban is also lifted so yes Ron" she said, looking at the red haired boy.
"Look, I get that he would try and get his ban lifted but I doubt he would try to get ours lifted too, that boy is a total git" George added, leaning against his twin brother.
"Yeah I'm with Georgie on this one" Fred said.
"Thanks Freddie"
She sighed, looking at all of her friends.
"Well I know he did it"
"And how do you know that?" Hermione asked, gazing at her.
"He told me, just now"
Ron suddenly stood up, waving his hands around in a rather hysterical manner.
"So you're fraternizing with the enemy now Ellie?"
"No Ron, of course not" she said, crossing her arms over her chest "there's nothing wrong with talking to him"
Hermione stepped over to Ron, urging him to sit back down on the couch before she looked over at Ellie.
"Ellie, this is odd, him talking to you and all these questions" she sighed "he is in the inquisitorial squad, he's definitely up to something, Malfoy always is, you need to be careful around him"
"I am, I barely know him" she lied, throwing her hands up in defense "but I happen to know that he felt guilty for getting the two of you banned and he wanted to make it right"
"No way" Ron argued once more "Malfoy doesn't have a conscience"
"Then why did he ask for your bans to get lifted too? Why didn't he just get his lifted and leave yours?" she questioned, looking at her friends "he didn't, he asked for all three bans to get lifted"
"That's nice of him and all, and I know that you want to see the good in everyone Ellie, but it's Malfoy, I don't trust him" Harry said calmly, looking at her "and you shouldn't either"
"Fine" she spat, plopping down on the couch next to Ginny "sorry for trying to make some kind of peace"
"Peace?" Ron laughed "you can't make peace with Malfoy"
....
The clock turned eight and she sneaked away from the half empty Gryffindor common room. At the top of the astronomy tower she met him, and as she looked at his bright smile she could not understand why everyone thought he was so bad.
They were at edge of the tower, gazing out at the view before them. Melting snow, a starry night sky and rolling hills in the distance. She was sitting down with her feet dangling over the edge and he laid down on his back, his head resting on her lap as she stroked his hair. She twirled the short pieces of his pale blonde hair in between her fingers, and he had his hands clasped together on his stomach.
"Ellie?"
"Mhm yes?" she hummed, gazing at the moon.
"I feel so much better now that I know that Quidditch isn't so far out of reach any longer"
"I'm glad Draco"
"And you know what?" he asked, as pleased smile upon his pale lips "I might consider falling off my broom more often if it means I get to see you in the infirmary"
His words made her laugh, shaking her head slightly.
"Please don't, I don't like seeing you in pain" she told him, looking down at his grey eyes that shone in the darkness.
"Oh I will be fine as long as you're around Ellie"