The Hog's Head
 

Edric read the letter for what must've been the 138th time that day. It was so crumpled up by now that it seemed like it was days old, like he hadn't just received it that morning.

After reading its contents for the first time that morning, Edric's initial reaction had been disbelief. Surely Ella had to be joking. But the frozen, disbelieving smile on his face cracked as he realized - Ella wouldn't joke about something this serious. It had to be true! But-- how could she be so unbelievably stupid?!

The young man took a sip from his third drink that night as he waited for Ella to arrive - if she did show up and hadn't already run off to faraway lands. It rather surprised him how frustrated he felt that day. It was one thing if he himself did something stupid, at least then he'd have some control over the situation. But this was Ella's life, and though he would've loved to be the puppeteer pulling her strings, it was up to her which turns her life would make. And right now, it seemed she only knew how to make poor decisions.

Perhaps she was just intent on giving her honorary older brother a heart attack. Eddy wasn't sure. But he preferred to believe that she'd done what she'd done more to drive him up the wall than because she was honestly dull enough to make a decision that stupid. And with that Alec bloke, of all people!

Frustrated, Edric crumpled the letter into a ball in his hand. He considered feeding it to the candle sitting on the middle of the table, but decided best to keep it.

Truth be told, Ella wasn't sure how long she was going to keep up this little joke she was pulling on her ogre. She was horrible at lying and worse, her face nearly always gave her away. One thing she still had going for her, though, was annoyance. She was definitely still annoyed at how Edric had behaved on their double-date and she'd channel that if she started thinking about backing out. Merlin knew Alec wouldn't want to go on another double-date with her probably ever and her evil fairy godfather was to blame. Maybe he deserved to think she'd gone off and eloped.

Entering the Hog's Head, the seventeen year old wrinkled her nose a bit. Of all places to pick, he had to pick here? It was kind of sketchy, was it not? The blonde shrugged and when she spotted her ogre, she tucked her hands into her pockets and took a seat across from him.

"You got my owl?" Casual Ella was casual.

Edric checked his watch. 8:15. Ella was already fifteen minutes late. Naturally, he began to panic. She wasn't going to show up, was she? She'd already made the decision to run off with her idiot boyfriend without even talking about it with him first. For Circe's sake, she was seventeen! A mere baby!

He couldn't just let this happen. He had to find her.

Edric pushed his empty glass aside and turned to take his coat when, suddenly, a voice spoke. The boy turned back around sharply, only to find Ella sitting right across from him, looking ever so normal and casual.

"You got my owl?"

Edric looked like he'd just seen a ghost. His face turned pale and his eyes widened. It took him a moment to remember his knowledge of the English language.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" he hissed, as if scared anyone else in the nearly-empty bar would hear them. Before Ella could reply, he was already answering her ridiculous question - "Yes, I got your lovely owl." He unrolled the paperball from his hand and tossed it across the table at her. "Care to tell me when you decided to go absolutely mad?"

Oh gosh. Edric looked bad. Like the kind of bad where you're about to pass out or worse, die. O_O She wasn't prepared for this. She didn't do well with conflict. ABORT. ABORT. NO! No, she just...needed to not freak out. Keep it together, Ella. He was being Edric and jumping to conclusions. That was all, right? Right.

O_______________________O


Only THEN he was scaring customers out of the pub with his hissing and scaring Ella with his throwing paper at her. RUDE. Her green eyes widened considerably at his behavior and she picked up the letter with a frown, noting how crumpled it was. "Care to tell me when you decided to start talking to people like this?" Cause even though whatever he was thinking was totally false, Ells was pretty appalled by how he was approaching the situation. What if the letter were true, huh? This would not be helping her out AT ALL.

"And I'm not mad," She offered as an after thought, sliding the letter back towards him. It was his after all.

"Since 'people' started acting like out-of-control children rather than mature, young... ladies," Edric replied to Ella's question. What, did she honestly think he had invited her over to congratulate her on ruining her life?! He merely scoffed when the blonde went on to defend herself about not being mad.

Edric didn't say anything else for a few more moments, watching as his old friend slid the letter back toward him. He just stared at it, not bothering to take it back. A heavy silence fell upon the pair, broken only by the background noise of the place and Edric nervously tapping his foot on the floor. He didn't realize he was doing it.

Finally, he spoke: "What's going on, Ells?" the boy's tone was surprisingly softer. "I understand you're at a different point in your life now than you were two years ago, but I thought the Ella I left at Hogwarts when I graduated was a little more responsible than this."

Ella was getting angrier the more Edric spoke and really, she had no reason to be. She was the one who had started this whole thing but instead of being amused by this little freak-out, she was upset too. THIS is why Ella shouldn't be allowed to be an ogre. She couldn't deal. So instead of saying anything, she simply narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest. STARE.

Then the silence came over them like a heavy fog and Ella did her best not to crack under the weight of it. She didn't want to say sorry, not just yet. She just wanted him to see, y'know? See what could happen when you jumped to conclusions and how wrong you could be. That's the whole reason she'd made the letter vague and clearly he had interpreted it badly.

When Edric finally said something, Ella felt her heart sink into her stomach. Because he was disappointed in her. Disappointed in something she DIDN'T do, sure, but still disappointed. Speaking of, he was acting as if she had told him she was dropping out of school to become a criminal with Alec or something. What did he think she meant?

"You don't think it's responsible to want to make a commitment to someone you love?" Because that's what she had meant by the letter. Not...something else.

"You don't think it's responsible to want to make a commitment to someone you love?"

Edric had to repeat the question in his mind at least three more times after Ella first asked. His brows furrowed and his expression turned puzzled. Wait, what?

"A com--" he started, but stopped abruptly. Suddenly, he picked up the letter he had decided to abandon on the table. He read it over a couple more times, searching for any clues that made any sense of what Ella was asking him.

Yeah, no, it still wasn't making sense.

"Commitment? Love?" he repeated, finally looking back at the girl. "Wait-- you're not-- aren't you--?" Ohmygosh, Ella wasn't really...? But what's this about 'commitment'?! Suddenly, Edric looked terrified all over again. It seemed he just kept on jumping from one conclusion to another. But could you blame him? Ella was being so vague! And... well, her choice of words wasn't the best. "What is going on?!" Edric's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you're seriously marrying that Alec bloke!"

Now this was sort of amusing, the way Edric was searching the letter again. But only a little because she still felt really bad. At least he was beginning to realize that he might have been wrong, though.

The blonde nodded in confirmation, watching him curiously as he sorted out his thoughts. Wait, she wasn't what? "What are you talking about, Edric?" Because now Ella was the one who was confused.

And then the guy was getting that same look again, the one that made Ella think he was going to pass out. Don't pass out...don't pass out...please. She'd probably tortured him enough, yeah? Especially because he was practically shouting at this point and people were starting to stare. "Shhhh!" Merlin!

"What do you think, Edric? What happened when you assumed that last time?" BROWS.

"Nothing," Edric replied quickly when Ella asked him what he was talking about. His brown-eyed gaze dropped and he found himself staring at the floor as if it was the most interesting work of art he'd ever seen. It wasn't like him to keep his mouth shut, but this time he couldn't help feeling rather embarrassed.

He'd thought he was about to become an uncle!
Suddenly, the table between them seemed like a nice place to bang his head on. How terribly embarrassing. How could he have thought so lowly of his fairy godchild? He had to admit, though, the relief was probably greater than the shame he felt at that moment.

AHEM-HEM-HEM.
Right, so let's forget Eddy had totally just made a slip-up there, shall we?
He looked up again with a new expression, looking ever so calm and casual. Yeah, he totally hadn't jumped to conclusions. Nope. Not at all. He'd just play it cool and hope Ella wouldn't interrogate him too much.

But she was already questioning him again.
What did he think? What happened last time he'd assumed marriage between Ella and Alec?

Edric crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the girl across from him. He had a feeling he knew where this was going, though he was still too confused and honestly a little wary to make more assumptions. "Are you trying to tell me something, Ells?"

It most certainly wasn't nothing. Ella could tell by the way he was avoiding eye contact and that only made her more curious. What on earth had he convinced himself was going on with her? And then he had put his ogre mask back on and was acting like all this was a normal get together which was just as weird. She narrowed her eyes at him and raised an eyebrow, wondering what was up. He was being so strange.

Ella mirrored Edric's actions and a faint smile played on her lips, deciding on how to best put this. She wanted him to understand but not hate her. She really hoped he wouldn't hate her for this.

"I'm trying to tell you that you always seem to think the worst about me." It was true. He seemed to just assume she was off making irrational decisions during her free time. "And you shouldn't because I'm not a little kid anymore." Nodnod. "You shouldn't underestimate me either." And she picked up the letter, her smile widening slightly.

Edric tried his best not to look guilty, but he couldn't help turning his gaze away for a moment as Ella accused him of always thinking the worst about her. Fine, it was true. He looked back at her, trying to remain casual and unbothered.

Okay, so she had a point.
Maybe he did have a habit of assuming the worst, and maybe he was treating her too much like a child. But, he couldn't help it! To him, Ella was a child! She would always be. Despite their age difference being so insignificant, Edric had already, without realizing, taken on the role of guardian. He felt like it was his responsibility to make sure that Ella was always on the right track, always happy, and always well.

Yeah, it was weird because ogres weren't supposed to have feelings. Maybe the thirteen-year-old Ella he'd met at Hogwarts had fed him a potion that still held an effect on him to this day.

Then Ella was reminding him not to underestimate her.
"Underestimate you, eh?" repeated Edric with a raised eyebrow. He seemed a bit panicked. Oh gawd, Ella had some evil plan up her sleeve, didn't she? This whole thing had been staged to make him look like a royal fool, hadn't it?
No! No more jumping to conclusions! Edric had to be more cautious now. "What did you do, Ells?"

He knew she was right. She could tell by his face and it made her frown slightly because she wanted him to think the best of her at all times, not the worst. And though she would never admit this to anyone, she tried really hard to make him proud. Like...he was on her mind when she did things sometimes and she made the right decisions because she knew what he'd want her to do. So why was it so hard for him, huh? She just didn't get it.

And then he asked the big question, the one she'd been waiting for. The blonde sat up a little straighter and grinned. "I didn't do anything." Ta-da. "I just mean, I didn't do anything that you should be worried about." Nodnod. "I simply decided to show you that jumping to conclusions about me could hurt you just as much as it does me." Shrug.

"So you buying me a butterbeer or what?" She had come all this way.

Naturally, Edric didn't believe it when Ella explained simply that she didn't do anything... at least, not anything that he should be worried about. Of COURSE, this immediately got him to worry. And though he was dying to jump into more conclusions and have another panic attack, he did remember he was in the middle of a lesson here. And Edric had always been a good student.

"I suppose I see your point," said the boy when Ella explained that jumping to conclusions could be hurtful. "But you don't think you went a bit far on this one?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Seriously, though. She'd nearly given him a heart attack! Normally, he would've been offended and probably wouldn't have spoken to Ella for a couple weeks after this. But since the girl did have a point and he was just too relieved to find all his crazy conclusions inaccurate, he let her have her glory.

And then Ella was asking for a butterbeer.
"Not until you tell me what it is, exactly, that I shouldn't be worried about," replied Edric simply. He was not going to let this go until he knew exactly what Ella was up to. And, though he wouldn't admit it, he did still worry about whatever was going on. Ella was being so mysterious, he just couldn't help it.

He got it? "Good." Ella was satisfied with that, even if she knew what was coming next. And as if right on cue, Edric questioned her tactics. The blonde's face fell a little and she shrugged. "Maybe I thought the only way to get through to an ogre was to be one too." Maybe. She looked at him nervously, her voice getting quiet. "You're not mad, are you?" Please don't be mad.

He still wanted to know stuff? But...fine. The blonde pouted for all of two seconds before caving in because she was quite thirsty. "Um...well since I last saw you I got a turtle, recruited some people for yearbook, and held Quidditch tryouts." Nodnod. "Oh and I turned seventeen but you know that already." See? She hadn't been up to anything bad at all. No more worrying, ogre. "What about you? Should I be worrying about what you've been up to?" Brows.

Edric listened as Ella explained that the only way to get to him was by being a tiny ogre. He rolled his eyes at this. "I'm sure there were more sensible ways to go about it." As the girl then asked if he was mad, Edric merely stared at her for a moment before speaking, "Of course I am." How could she even ask?! "But I'm not going to hold it against you." See? Eddy could be fair.

As Ella proceeded to explain all the innocent, normal, average everyday things she had been up to, Edric felt a mix of relief and disappointment. Relief that there was no big scary secret he had to worry about, and disappointment for the same reason. What? Edric liked to worry. It was in his evil fairy godfather nature.

"Of course not," the boy replied when Ella asked if she should be worried about what he had been up to. Psh. Edric was an example of good behaviour and excellence. Or so he liked Ella to believe, anyway. He had to be a good role model. "Besides being cruelly pranked by you, working, and visiting Evelyn on the weekends, I haven't done anything out of the ordinary." He paused for a moment and flashed Ella the first smile of the night. "And I suppose I owe you a butterbeer." And with that, the boy left the table to fetch a drink for his old friend.

It had only recently occurred to her that in all her trips to Hogsmeade she'd only ever limited herself to the candy shop and the joke shop, with the occasional trip to the three broomsticks. What about the rest of the place? She wanted to widen her options and felt the best place to start was the place that could almost pass for something belonging down in Knockturn Alley. Seriously, Hog's Head? Who came up with these things?

Lex peeked inside before trying to make as casual an entrance as possible. If you gave off the impression that you belonged somewhere then no one would be able to say otherwise.

So far, the only familiar face she saw was Ella's but the older girl was having a conversation of some kind and she didn't want to interrupt. For a moment she thought to simply sit alone and take in everything but then she saw someone...already doing that? Company? She'd call it that so Alexa made her way to the window seat and sat across from a girl she wasn't actually acquainted with. Perfectly normal. Every friend started out a stranger and she liked new things people. "Hey." She said, giving her a nod of acknowledgement. It was only after this that she thought maybe the girl had been waiting on someone? More company? Sounded good to her!

Ella got it, okay? Sure there were other ways to go about showing Edric how she felt about things but this was the first one she'd thought up. Wasn't he at least a little proud deep down in his ogre heart? No? Okay. The blonde frowned slightly and looked away, noticing Lex walk in. The Gryffindor got a smile before she turned her attention back towards Edric. "Sorry you're mad." But she was happy too because maybe now he understood how she felt.

PSH.

She didn't buy the whole innocent thing at all. Not that she thought Edric was out robbing banks on the weekend or anything but surely he wasn't telling her the whole story. She stuck her tongue out at him all mature-like for the prank comment but otherwise kept pretty quiet. That is until she thought of something. "You two are serious, huh?" Him and Eve. She approved, of course. She was curious too. "How is she?"

And then he was off getting her a butterbeer and Ella smiled a little, eyes on her hands. At least he hadn't left her here. That was good.

Edric returned a moment later, placing a large mug filled with butterbeer on Ella's side of the table. He was a little caught off-guard by the girl's following question (I'm gonna say she asked about Edrilyn and Evs after he got back 'cause it would be random if she asked him and he just ignored her and walked away to get the butterbeer xD).

"I suppose it depends on your definition of 'serious'," started Edric. Typical of him never to give a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer. He shrugged. "We're not getting married, if that's what you're asking. But I've asked her to come to London and move in with me when she's done with school." The mere thought of having Evelyn around all day, everyday, brought a smile to the usually serious boy. He was rather looking forward to that.

"She's doing well," Edric continued, this time answering Ella's second question. "Almost done with school, receiving only top marks, as would be expected."

LOL no worries!
 

"Thank you!" Big smiles for the ogre. Ella didn't waste any time taking a big sip, savoring the taste. Butterbeer really was the best.

Why did he always have to do that, huh? Ella rolled her eyes at him because he was being so ogre-y again. She'd take the concerned brother act over this, y'know. At least that guy was easier to read. "I hadn't jumped to that conclusion, actually." Smirk. See what she did there? ... ... Wait, what? "Really?!" GRIN. "That's brilliant, Edric." The blonde was happy for him.

Noting that Edric hadn't asked how Alec was, the blonde bit her lip and tried not to frown. She really wanted him to like Alec and so far, she wasn't so sure he did. "Don't you want to know how Alec is?"

"No problem."

Edric, ever so sweet, merely rolled his eyes at Ella's excitement. Alright alright, it wasn't THAT big of a deal. He and Evs were old enough, moving in together seemed like a logical idea. Or at least that's the way Edric saw it.

The boy nodded his head as Ella approved of the plan and distracted himself with bringing the girl's old letter to the flame of the candle sitting on the table. He usually kept Ella's letters to him, but he was definitely not going to keep this one. He turned his gaze away from the fire as Ella spoke again, this time asking if he wanted to know about Alec.

Edric returned to his blunt and less mysterious ways: "Not really, no." The letter had caught fire and eventually became nothing more than ashes on the surface of the table. Edric remained silent for a moment before asking, "Alright, how is he?" He figured he should make an effort if he didn't want Ella hating him and pulling more clever pranks on him.

Karina blinked in slight surprise when a student decided to sit across from her. "Hey," she said back, what else could she say? "Are you in Gryffindor?" she asked, wary. It was possible her mental calling to Gryffindors had worked, but she seriously doubted it, and she twirled her red hair in her fingers as she thought. What if this was a student who wanted to harm her? Why would someone be so friendly, so unguarded; this new girl would have to be naive to come and sit with a total stranger. Karina didn't stay anything else as she continued to think about all the things that could go wrong. She adjusted her red cloak and remained silently on guard for anything that was a threat.

Lex noted the look of surprize on the girl's face but didn't think much of it. Probably didn't have much people walk up to her where she came from. Pity really. Areas like that weren't conducive to building friendships.; not at all. Thinking that left Alexa wondering, where was this girl from? Not Hogwarts for sure because then she would have known her...but school aged...so...there were a two options: the girl was either homeschooled and lived in Hogsmeade making her a regular that Lex wouldn't know simply because she'd never been to the Hog's Head before....or she went to school, just...somewhere else? Yeah.

Alexa tilted her head at the girl and gave her a curious look. That...was an oddly accurate guess. "I am..." The answer was a bit hesitant but she quickly regained her composure and gave a firm nod to go with it. "The name's Alexa, 4th year Gryffindor. I'd like to guess your house but I don't even know if you go to school." Not meant to be an insult but a simple fact. "Why do you ask?"

So the girl was not so naive as Karina first thought; she was hesitating now, being cautious. She looked at the younger girl as she thought of what to say. "I go to school." she said simply, why reveal that she went to Durmstrang? This girl didn't need to know, and it would just open up opportunities for weakness on Karina's part. "I was told to talk to Gryffindors and get to know them." That was true; which was why she had been asking people if they were Gryffindors or not, but this was the first one she had come across. 'Talk to Gryffindors' Headmaster had said; Here is a Gryffindor. So talk. She should be trustworthy enough. The sixth year Norwegian thought to herself. "Hello... Alexa" she repeated her greeting so she could add the name to the face. If she was going to be staying with Gryffindor for the remainder of the visit it might be good to be on a first name basis, even if this girl was not a friend. How did the saying go? Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Karina didn't know yet if this girl would be an enemy, but she could be, and Karina was on the lookout.