- Chapter Seventy-Seven -
"Just a bad stomach, I think."

A crowing crowd rumbled loudly from behind the muffled blanket of glass that separated the outside castle grounds from the inside of the library. The top part of the split window that blocked Elladora from the noise of loud cheers began to slowly creak open as though it was a thin branch of a tree with too much added weight on top of it. As soon as the window opened, the small muffling grew into louder noise and the deafening crowd was much easier to recognise, a warm breeze filtered in through the window and ticked Elladora's face softly whist she lay with her head in her arms, resting on top of an open book.

Blindingly, a sudden penetration of light she received when opening her eyes to the passing wind forced her eyes down into a squint as the savagely forceful flash of the hot morning sun became clear. It had attempted to blind her like the darkness would blind innocent wanderers of a dangerous forest at night. Relentlessly, the light pulled and persuaded her to rise completely from her small nap in the library and rub her eyes free of the funny shapes burned into her eyes.

She had awoken early that morning, about half five in the morning; she knew there was no chance of her falling back asleep so she forced herself out of bed, got changed into comfortable clothes that covered everything it needed to before she crept out of her Common Room and reached the library at 6 o'clock just as Madam Pince was opening it up for the day. They got there at the same time and the woman, no matter how strict, managed to quirk a smile and let her in to do whatever she needed.

At first her plan was just to see if her secret muggle book provider had placed another one down for her to read but there was no such look and she ended up having to read boring wizard ones that she'd read already. That's what had caused her to fall asleep, the repetitive use of the word spell with other words to rhyme it with. It got tiring, especially when you were running on 4 hours of sleep.

Perhaps, I should sit for a spell,

though maybe I should stand,

for I want to whisper and yell

that she is mine, "Oh, she is mine!"

Or am I hers? I cannot tell

if I am one thing or the next

since that brief moment that I fell

for blue eyes like a wand

casting an ancient, binding spell.

Elladora had gotten sick of love poems, especially when she doesn't know what any type of love could possibly feel like. It might've also been the fact that she was incredibly tired and one of her best friends had committed an act based on love towards her just the previous evening when they had been close to getting in trouble. It hadn't meant anything, she didn't think. She hoped he didn't think it meant anything because the last thing she wanted was an awkward conversation on why she doesn't think it's possible for her to ever love someone. Especially with the amount of pressure and weight on her shoulders at the moment that said conversation would supposedly happen.

Since when did being her get so complicated? Did it all stem from when Remus saved her? Or maybe when she agreed to be their friend? When she smiled for the first time? When she openly fought her fellow Slytherins? When she didn't do anything to save herself from the terrors that were inflicted upon her over the Easter holidays? Looking back, a lot of mistakes were made. She could've saved herself so many times but...Regulus. She had promised and the thought of breaking any promise seemed horrendous to think about because of the burn marks on her arm that had still yet to disappear.

She had managed to cover it with a long-sleeve black shirt that was actually her size instead of being from Remus' wardrobe and being too big and her black joggers were her own too. But she was thinner, sicker, paler, more disconnected...all things that Avery never fails to remind her. Oh yeah, all that was still happening like the whole fight incident never happened. Macnair sat there silently, Elladora sat next to Regulus instead of him and avoiding his gaze at every cost. It was so unfair being the only girl there.

Automatically, she was seen as lesser than them. More delicate but at the same time, their punching bag that they take their frustration in with verbal abuse as they know she fights to hold her tongue so she won't get in trouble when one of them writes home complaining about her attitude. She was on constant watch, like she was a child.

Evan tells her to hold on, she has no idea what that means, he just says it in every letter.

Luckily there had been no little meeting after her detention last night so the morning was allowed to be a relaxing one that she spent reading a book, instead falling asleep only to wake up when Madam Pince opened a window to let air into the stuffy library and allowed the cheers of the crowd going down to the Quidditch Pitch infiltrate the ears of the tired.

"Shit!" Elladora exclaimed loudly, suddenly awake as she watched spectators of the match heading down to the stands to find their places. It was the last match of the season, Slytherin Vs Gryffindor which meant it was a big one and would determine if James could lead the Gryffindor team to victory.

He had been going on about it since the start of the week and now she wasn't even there whilst groups of students he doesn't even talk to that much are decked in red and gold summer outfits to show their support for the team. Not only was Gryffindor playing but also Slytherin, which means Regulus was probably looking out for her too but she wasn't there and certainly wasn't dressed for a hot Spring day like this one.

Avery, Mulciber, Snape and Macnair were banded together, walking down together. Snyde was on the team so he wasn't with them at the moment and was probably instead with Regulus in the changing rooms; Avery held a bunched up Slytherin flag in his hands whilst the rest of the boys were in green t-shirts to show support. She brushed them off and scrambled out of her chair to shove the open book she had been sleeping on back in the bookcase.

She gave a rushed goodbye to Madam Pince whilst in a fast walk and once she was out of the library, she broke into a run and weaved her way through the castle to get to the closest exit that would take her down to the pitch hopefully in time for the match to start and for her to find Remus and Peter to stand next to. She supposed Lily would be nice to stand next to but she still wasn't all that comfortable with the rest of the redheads friends.

The sun that had previously blinded her in the library was now taking it's chance to attack her again as the heat seeped into her as she ran. It was difficult to run and be careful of her steps at the same time but she managed to go as fast as she could, which was fast for her size but nothing compared to Remus and how fast his legs could take him. She didn't even have a hair tie on her wrist so it was like a blanket to her already heated neck so she could feel the sweat building up already as she ran quickly.

The dots of people were coming closer and she attempted to pick up her pace, her black shoes pressed into the luscious grass below her as they took their own course when going down a hill. She wished she had remembered that it was the match today so she would've put at least some white on. The darker shade of colour, the more heat an object absorbs, while the lighter the colour, the less heat it absorbs so she was heavily sweltered with heat when she came close to the pitch.

To her relief, she could see Remus and Peter looking around the stands confusedly and a bit shiftily as Professor McGonagall came down to talk to them, Remus grimaced slightly and opened his mouth to speak before he caught sight of her running down with a couple of slow walkers. He held a hand up and ushered her along quickly.

When reaching them, she attempted to stop but still ended up barrelling into Peter slightly, his hands reaching out to stop her before they both fell over because of the force. She was panting loudly and heavily persuaded to roll the arms of her sleeves up but made no such move to as that would've exposed her damaged arm.

"Well, now that Miss Hargreaves has finally joined us, you can take your places up in the staff box." McGonagall shook her head before turning and walking back up to the staircase towards the staff seats.

Remus whirled around to face Elladora as she put her hands on her hips and tried to control her breathing. "Where have you been? James was worried sick and slightly disappointed."

"I know, I know." She apologised breathlessly and followed when he started towards the staircase for the staff stand at McGonagall's orders. Peter followed next to her. "I just slept in is all, why are we sitting with the staff?"

"Moony's commentating." Peter smiled amusedly and Elladora laughed slightly as they began to ascend the wooden staircase. Remus predictably rolled his eyes but a smile forced its way through anyway. "The normal commentator is on the Slytherin team so they couldn't do it today, McGonagall asked Remus because you know..."

"It's Remus." Elladora nodded her head in understanding and they emerged out into the top stand, an excited Slughorn was sat on the top row next to Professor Sprout who looked plain bored with the whole thing.

The three wormed their way to the front where Remus looked over the microphone and the scoring thing before just standing and waiting for someone to give him orders to start speaking. Elladora stopped on his right, squinting her eyes as the bright sun shone down onto the pitch; Peter had stood on Remus' left, looking down at the grass below him for James and Sirius to come out.

"You look boiling." Remus commented, looking over at her with slightly furrowed eyebrows. Elladora looked up at him before looking at her attire and realising that she couldn't justify it this time since her face was probably bright red from her running.

"I'm fine." She decided to lie, waving him off but her panting from the run and then the added effort of climbing the steep stairs gave her away. Remus gave her a look and she attempted a bright grin.

"Number one, you look like you're in pain." He told her with a laugh and she dropped her grin, recoiling slightly. "Number two, you are not fine, your face is red and you're acting like you've just narrowly escape a swarm of Cornish pixies."

Elladora rolled her eyes, using her hand to fan herself slightly before looking over the edge of the stand to see if she could spot Sirius or James. "James was really disappointed?" She asked Remus, feeling slightly guilty for making James feel as though she had forgotten, which she had but whatever...

"Just worried I think." He shrugged with a smile and Elladora tucked her hair behind her ears, a strand falling out which she put back a total of five times before it started to stay there. "Sirius got him out of his chair and down to the changing rooms though."

"Lupin, starting in exactly a minute." McGonagall called out and Remus looked down at his wrist where a watch was placed and he nodded before looking back up at Elladora.

Whilst she had been looking around the pitch again, her hands stabilising her body on the wood in front of them, that strand of hair had come out from behind her hair again. Huffing, she stepped back and went to tuck it behind her ear again but Remus got there first, quickly putting it back behind her ear and Elladora felt the buzzing more than ever as she looked up to him whilst he did it, putting a hand to her stomach as a reflex.

His finger lingered slightly but he took his hand away from her when he saw her hand on her stomach and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked desperately, glancing back down at his watch slightly. "You keep acting like you're gonna throw up."

"I'm fine." She brushed it off, shaking her head and gulping slightly as she turned back towards the pitch. "I might go to the Hospital Wing after the match, just a bad stomach I think."

I think.

"Okay." Remus said with a small growing smile, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye before raising the microphone to his mouth and starting the match.

Elladora smiled as James, Sirius and the rest of the Gryffindor team came flying out onto the pitch, James circled the pitch and made a cheer when he passed the staff bit where Elladora was grinning out at them. She then saw Regulus in the air, tightening his Quidditch gloves whilst looking in the same direction. Elladora gave him a thumbs up with an encouraging smile and he nodded back at her before Madam Hooch started to order them around and Remus commentated.

Through spending her time with James and Regulus, Elladora understood a lot more of Quidditch than she did when the year started so hopefully she'd understand what went right and what went wrong.

•*•*•*•*•
A/N: boring chapter because I'm dragging it out so the final chapter can be chapter 100 as I had that in mind, now can't get it out and will be very stressed if it does not end on 100

The poem earlier in the chapter is by Robert Lee Brewer (I think, I found it on google and that was the name on there)

I changed the face claim for Peter back to the original because I just...don't get me wrong, I LOVE Dane DeHaan like pls have my children but I felt like he didn't look right for the way I've written my Peter so it's back to Jamie Bell