If Eleanor was being one hundred percent honest with herself, she had an extremely hard time reading the intentions behind Fred Weasley's behaviour. He often made the effort to tease her in passing and then sometimes, he would just come by to sit with her, such as he did that one morning in the Great Hall. She knew very well that he was attempting to find the secret behind her successful dodges of their pranks, but even Eleanor did not have the slightest clue as to how she was doing it. She was only considering herself to be quite fortunate under the circumstances because the longer he didn't know, the more time he would spend in her company.

One early evening, she found herself sitting in front of the fireplace in the Hufflepuff Common Room. Cedric and Marnie were behind her, discussing the upcoming Quidditch match that would be taking place the next day. Originally, the match had been set as Gryffindor vs Slytherin, however, with Draco Malfoy milking his hippogriff injury to the fullest extent, the match was adjusted to Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff. Of course, Cedric seemed to be in good spirits about the entire thing, looking forward to going head-to-head with Oliver Wood as the last time the two teams had played, Gryffindor had claimed victory. But Cedric was positive that Hufflepuff was going to win, while Marnie doubted there would even be a match due to the poor weather conditions.

For days, the wind blew violently, and the rain fell heavier than ever before, and yet, there had been no mention of the match being postponed, let alone cancelled. Marnie claimed she didn't want to be out there during such conditions, while Cedric told her she had magical abilities for a reason and to put them to use. When they turned to Eleanor to settle the argument, it was clear that Eleanor had not been listening to either one of them as she answered "yes" and continued to stare into the fire.

Before either one of them could ask if she was feeling alright, Eleanor stood up abruptly and decided to leave the Common Room. She could hear her two friends calling her name, but she ignored it, already set out on her mission.

Her mission took her to Professor Lupin's office, hoping she would be able to ask him a few questions, at least to make sense of the thoughts that were running through her mind. She hoped he would be there as the last couple of days, the students had to suffer through having Professor Snape as a substitute. They were told that Professor Lupin was feeling ill and Professor Snape was just taking the opportunity to bad mouth Lupin's teaching methods. When she reached the office, Eleanor saw the room was lit and as she peeked inside, saw Professor Lupin settled at his desk.

His head rested in his hands as his elbows were propped up on his desk. She wasn't even sure if he was awake, but the steam coming off the little teacup beside him, made it seem like it had been recently made. Thinking that he did not want to be disturbed, she turned to leave, only to have her shoe make a squeaking noise as it scuffed against the castle floor.

"Miss Ross?"

Eleanor turned around, wearing an apologetic expression. "Sorry to disturb you, Professor. I can come back-"

"Nonsense, you're already here," Professor Lupin said, he was currently on his feet, leaning against his desk, while sporting a small but sincere looking smile. "Come in, how can I help you?"

Nervously, Eleanor wrung her hands together before stepping into the office. "Well, I'm not sure if you can help me, Professor, but I didn't know who else to talk to. I suppose I could have gone to Professor McGonagall or Professor Flitwick but...sorry, I'm rambling...I'm not entirely sure how to word this-"

Professor Lupin chuckled before offering her a place to sit in front of his desk, which Eleanor took gladly so that she wasn't practically bouncing around with nerves. He even offered her a cup of tea, but she declined, sure that it would end up everywhere if she tried holding onto it. And once again, he encouraged her to speak, hoping that he could be of assistance.

"This may sound silly but is it possible for someone to protect themselves against magic, even if they weren't aware of it?" she asked, immediately regretting it when she saw the look of confusion on his face. "Right, it sounds stupid- "

"Now, hold on," Professor Lupin interjected, "nothing sounds stupid, I think I just need further details."

"Okay, um, suppose someone is attempting to cast a spell on someone who is unsuspecting. But that person manages to deflect the spell."

"So, like a protective shield? Well, yes, there are many spells to cast that offer protection- "

Eleanor shook her head before cutting him off. "But what if the person didn't cast a protection spell? The spell was cast, they weren't aware of it, but the spell didn't hit them. Is there a form of protective magic that would be able to repel a spell without a person being aware of it? For example, let's say you attempted to hex me, I'm not aware that you're about to attack, but I still manage to dodge it or maybe it rebounds."

The office fell silent as Eleanor looked up at him, hoping he had an answer, but Professor Lupin only appeared further confused. More than likely because it sounded just as mad as she made it out to be in her head.

"Miss Ross, are you speaking from personal experience or-"

"It was just a silly question," Eleanor said quickly, pushing herself up from the chair. "Shower thoughts, you know. Sorry for wasting your time. I hope you'll be back to classes soon. Feel better!"

Without another word, Eleanor hurried out of the office and didn't stop at her record speed until she was back in the Hufflepuff Common Room. Perhaps she shouldn't have run out on Professor Lupin, especially since he seemed willing to help her or at the very least, listen. But she didn't want to come across as mad either. Still, she wasn't any closer to the answer she wanted, and now she was just as curious as Fred and George were.

Thankfully, Eleanor had a Quidditch match to take her mind off of things, and as Marnie liked to put it, seeing the Weasley twins in their Quidditch gear was an exceptionally good distraction. But as she and Marnie headed out to the stands to join the rest of the school to view the match, her mind was only focused on the terrible weather. It was typical for it to rain often, but she could hardly see her hand in front of her face, even after an invisible brolly sprouted from the end of her wand.

In the back of her mind, she was always slightly nervous when attending a Quidditch match as she learned back in her first year that it could be a brutal sport. Especially with the Beaters aiming bludgers, the bad weather wasn't going to make it any safer for the players. Initially, she mostly worried about Cedric and the Hufflepuff players but as she walked along, she found herself thinking about Fred.

Immediately, she stopped and shook her head to rid it of such thoughts. Sure, she had fun "flirting" with him, if that's what they wanted to call it, but that was where she planned on leaving it. But he was entering her thoughts more and more as of late.

"Oh no- "

"Oh no is right!" Marnie huffed from next to her. "I can't believe we're actually attending this match. What's the point? We can't see a thing!"

"Marnie, we're just going to support Cedric and the team-"

"Cedric's ego supports him quite well, I'm sure it can support the rest of the team, while we stay inside where it's warm and dry! What is even considered dangerous to the school at this point? Mass murderer in the castle? Let's have a slumber party. Dangerous conditions that could end up with someone getting hurt? Let them play Quidditch! I know I've said that Dumbledore is senile before, but I'm questioning all the professors at this point, who just casually go along with it."

Eleanor was about to respond when she saw blurs of canary yellow entering the pitch. She assumed it was the Hufflepuff team and grabbed Marnie to quickly pull her along to the stands to sit down. Only seconds later did the Gryffindor team emerge, as blurs of red, and at the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle, they took to the skies.

It wasn't the most exciting Quidditch match as Eleanor would so kindly put it, because even Lee Jordan, who often announced the match, couldn't see a thing to call out. Every so often, the wind would blow so hard, causing one of the players to swerve off on their broom, close to the stands. The Beaters were having a difficult time seeing the bludgers, let alone directing them in the direction of the opposing team.

At one point, a time out was called but it wasn't like anyone in the stands had the slightest clue as to what was going on. As time went on, plenty of students and even some of the professors abandoned the match, their love for the sport could not outweigh the poor conditions they were being forced to sit through. Eleanor remained though, knowing that if it was that bad in the stands that Cedric and the team ( and Fred) were suffering greatly in the air. And while her hair had managed to get wet from the wind blowing the rain around, her jumper remained dry.

"Ellie, you're hogging the brolly," Marnie told her.

"No, I'm not-"

"Well, you're the one who's practically dry while I'm over here half-soaked!"

Eleanor was about to argue that Marnie was fully capable of creating her own brolly if she wished to complain, but suddenly felt overwhelmed by such a cold sensation. She didn't seem to be the only one either as the entire stands fell silent with the remaining students and faculty. Her hand travelled over the yarn of her jumper, only to feel that it was still dry, but it was almost like she had been dipped in ice.

Confused, she took one glance up at the skies, only to gasp when she caught sight of the dark shadows that trailed in the skies. Despite the limited visibility, she could see the dementors take to the pitch. There were so many that she couldn't even count them and they all seemed to be circling about one area, only for her to witness a body falling from the sky seconds later.

Only Dumbledore had enough reaction time to make his way to the pitch and slow the body down before it fully hit the ground. And just a minute or so afterwards, in the midst of all the chaos, it was announced that Cedric had caught the Golden Snitch.

It was Harry Potter that had been attacked by the dementors while in the air, and while it came as no surprise to some, Eleanor could see the guilt on Cedric's face after the match. He had attempted to approach Oliver afterwards, saying that he would be open to the idea of a rematch considering the circumstances, but Oliver refused, claiming that Hufflepuff had won fair and square.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Cedric," Eleanor told him that very evening, "you were probably going to end up catching the snitch before Harry did anyways. You caught it right after he fell, I think you were considerably closer. The conditions were terrible regardless, maybe that's why Oliver thinks you won it fairly."

"Still, I've heard it from a few, they think we only won because of the dementor attack," Cedric grumbled. "That's not exactly the reputation we want."

"Don't listen to them, I'd like to see any of those people find the snitch in that kind of weather. We couldn't even see the majority of the match, the fact that you found the snitch in all of that is amazing."

"No, the fact that you stayed dry during that entire match is amazing," Marnie said as she fell into stride with the two of them on their way to the Great Hall. "You should have seen it, Cedric, we got back to the Common Room, she's bone dry, while I'm drenched head to toe."

"For the last time, Marnie, I didn't hog the brolly! Besides, my hair ended up getting wet-"

"Feels dry to me."

She felt the light pull of one of her locks, leaving her to turn around, thinking it was either Marnie or Cedric, only to see that it was Fred with George and Lee in his company. Immediately, her face flushed red, not expecting such a confrontation. She looked to Cedric and Marnie, who both wore the same curious expressions, telling them to head inside the Great Hall and that she would be right there.

They hesitated but eventually walked in, leaving Eleanor behind. She pulled her hair back and kept an arm's length from Fred.

"I see you came to the match to root us on," Fred told her with a grin, " very sweet of you."

"I was there for Cedric and the rest of the Hufflepuff team," Eleanor said, "but if it helps you sleep at night, I'll let you believe that...how's Harry?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" George countered, leaving Eleanor to raise a brow.

"Yes, that's why I asked. Cedric feels really bad about the match, especially knowing what happened. He offered Wood a rematch, but Wood declined the offer. Still, I heard Harry was brought to the Hospital Wing, just wanted to see if he was alright."

"He's fine," Fred answered, "Madam Pomfrey is keeping him in the Hospital Wing but he was awake the last we were there. But if you're offering some concern, a bludger ended up hitting my hand-"

"That's nice!" Eleanor added quickly before turning her attention to the Great Hall. "I have to go. Bye!"

Just as she reached the Hufflepuff table, Eleanor realised what she had said in hopes of making a quick getaway and felt like smacking herself as she sat down. She just wanted to get away from them as soon as possible, because the longer she stood there, she felt like she was going to make a fool out of herself, only to accomplish the one thing she was trying to avoid. Before she looked over in the direction of the Gryffindor table, Cedric held an envelope to her.

"What's this?" she pondered out loud, only to notice that it was a letter from her mother. The last letter she had written home, Eleanor had pleaded with her mother to consider sharing Christmas with Cedric's and Marnie's families at the Diggory home. As she opened the letter, she expected the short and simple answer of "no" to be written, only to see her mother had written something else.

"So, what did she say, Ellie?" Cedric asked. Eleanor looked up at her friends, her eyes wide with shock.

"She said yes."