After serving detention with Fred, Eleanor would have liked to believe that there had been somewhat of a spark between them, but it didn't seem to go anywhere. Most days, Fred would greet her in the corridors or in class as he would any friend, whether it was a playful shove in passing or a high-five. It left Eleanor confused because between their letters and the time they had spent alone together during detention, she was certain they had been flirting with each other and didn't flirting usually lead to something else?

However, outside of their pranks, the twins were known to be rather friendly, so perhaps she had mistaken Fred's friendliness for something else? With little experience of dating, outside of her one failed date with Cedric over a year ago, Eleanor had no idea what to think or what to do. Of course, the answer would have been to approach Fred and ask him about his feelings towards her, but Eleanor could suddenly feel the overwhelming sense of embarrassment just thinking about such a scenario.

What if Fred really wasn't flirting with her? What if he was just being nice and wasn't looking for anything passed friendship? If she brought up something more, there was a possibility of her creating such an awkward situation that it left Eleanor with the idea of to just continue going with how things were. At least her feelings were safer that way.

But with Valentine's Day approaching, it seemed the idea of love was around every corner.

"Ugh, just look at them," Marnie huffed one day in the library, "they're so bloody happy. It makes me sick."

Partially glancing over her own shoulder, Eleanor followed Marnie's gaze to find an older couple across the way, nuzzling their noses together as they shared in a few whispers. Feeling her own cheeks flush, Eleanor quickly looked away and turned her focus back to her Transfiguration homework.

"And them being happy makes you sick because?"

Marnie dropped her chin onto the table with a pouty expression. "Because I want that. I want it so damn bad."

"I don't know, Marnie," Eleanor said, "the whole rubbing noses together thing seems a bit weird to me. But if you want- "

Suddenly, Marnie's eyes darted over in her direction as she shot her a look. "It's not the rubbing noses thing, Ellie. I want to be with someone."

"Marnie, we go through this every single year around Valentine's Day. For Merlin's sake, if you're not going to ask Cedric, then ask someone else to be your date! There are plenty of other boys in the castle. You have so many options to choose from!"

"But I don't want any of those other boys!" Marnie cried out. "I want him!"

Knowing that Marnie was referring to Cedric, she couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh. And while it pained her that she didn't have a way to really help Marnie in her situation, she also didn't want her friend to be making a scene. Especially when the librarian, Irma Pince, came walking around the corner, offering a warning look that said, "be quiet."

"Keep it down, Marnie," Eleanor whispered to her as she scooted her chair closer to Marnie's side, "it's going to be alright. From what I heard; Cedric hasn't made plans with Cho yet. All you have to do is beat her to the punch. All you have to do is ask Cedric-"

"Ask me what?"

The sudden sound of Cedric's voice caused Marnie to panic as she screamed out. "Nothing!"

But in an effort to keep Eleanor from saying anything else, she lifted her book with the plan to silence her friend, only to end up smacking Eleanor in the face with it. Eleanor let out a painful cry immediately following as her nose burned, causing her eyes to water. And after pulling her hands away that initially covered her face as a reflex, she could see blood dripping onto her fingers.

"My nose! I-I think you br-broke it!"

At the sight of Eleanor bleeding, Cedric gasped and hurried over to her side, while scolding Marnie in the process. Neither one of them seemed to be actually helping her at the time, but all the commotion brought Madam Pince to return.

"What is going on here?!" The librarian's eyes spotted the blood and quickly looked to the books set out on the table. "To the Hospital Wing before you get blood on any of these books!"

"I would think the worry would be over my broken nose, not the books! But thanks for the concern!"

Pushing herself up as she placed both hands over her nose, Eleanor left the library with Marnie and Cedric following her behind closely. But rather than actually helping Eleanor or seeing if she was alright, the two only argued from behind her, leaving her to finally lose her patience.

"Enough!" she snapped at them as she turned around. "I'll manage on my own from here, thanks!"

The two came to a halt, their eyes wide as their arguing died down instantly. Eleanor turned away and continued to head in the direction of the Hospital Wing. She heard one of them call after her but chose to ignore it. The centre of her face was throbbing, and her eyes continued to water as she hurried up the steps of the tower. And as soon as she walked in, Madam Pomfrey spotted her and ran over to her aid.

"Goodness, dear, what happened to your face?"

"Long story short, my friend smacked me in the face with a book and I think my nose might be broken."

"Come sit down," Madam Pomfrey said, guiding her by the arm, "we'll get you cleaned up first so we can take a look."

A few minutes later, Eleanor was seated in a chair while Madam Pomfrey cleared the blood away in just seconds with her wand. Gently, she examined Eleanor's nose to the point where she let out a small yelp in pain.

"Well, you were right," Madam Pomfrey said, "it is broken. But that's a simple fix."

Performing the Episkey incantation, Eleanor felt the onset of warmth spread over her nose before it grew cold again, and seconds later as she touched it, her nose was as good as new. The pain subsided immediately, and Eleanor was able to wiggle it again without any pain. And just as she was about to thank Madam Pomfrey and be on her way, the two were interrupted by someone else entering the wing.

It was none other than Fred Weasley.

Upon seeing Eleanor, concern washed over Fred's face, despite the fact that he was in pain. He wondered why she was there, considering she looked relatively fine. And she seemed curious as to what he was doing there as well.

"Now, why is it that everywhere I go, you end up showing up or being right there?" she asked him with a small smile.

"Did it ever cross your mind that maybe you're the one who keeps making opportunities to bump into me?" he replied. "You just can't stay away from me, can you, Ms Ross?"

Madam Pomfrey looked back and forth between the two, who appeared to completely forget that she was standing between them.

"Right," Eleanor said, "so what are you doing here exactly?"

Without another word, Fred held up his right hand to reveal a series of broken fingers, allowing the injuries to speak for themselves. She grimaced at the sight before pushing herself up and allowing him to take her seat so that Madam Pomfrey could tend to him.

"I let a bludger get the best of me during practice," he said, "I think I felt all of my fingers touch the top of my wrist."

"It looks incredibly painful."

Fred was about to tell her that it looked worse than what it felt, but as Eleanor pulled up a chair to sit beside him, he decided to go along with milking the injury a little bit more. Of course, it was difficult to focus on the pain when Eleanor grabbed his other hand and held onto it to offer some support as Madam Pomfrey began to mend his fingers.

It didn't take long and just a couple of minutes later, the two were walking out of the Hospital Wing together. He didn't say anything as Eleanor continued to hold his hand, realising that she probably forgot she was holding onto it.

"Wait a second," he said as they ventured down the stairs, "what exactly were you doing in the Hospital Wing?"

"My nose ended up getting broken and-"

Suddenly, he stopped on the last step, leaving Eleanor to stop beside him. He was just about to ask her if she was alright but realised it was a silly question. She looked perfectly fine to him, obviously, Madam Pomfrey had done her job. But as he was stuck looking at her, Fred started to feel a sense of panic as he tried to come up with something to say.

"So, how did you break it?" he asked. "Run into a wall while knitting?"

Probably not the best way to go about it as Eleanor dropped his hand and folded her arms across her chest.

"No, I didn't run into a wall," she said, " Marnie ended up hitting me in the face with a book while we were in the library."

"She hit you in the face? What did you do?"

Eleanor's lips parted as she looked slightly offended by his questioning. "Why did you assume I did something?"

"I may not know Marnie as well as you do, but I don't think she would just hit you in the face with a book for the fun of it."

"Oh."

"So, I'll ask again, what did you do to make Marnie result to violence?"

Shuffling her feet in place, Eleanor looked away from him. "I can't say. Marnie would absolutely kill me."

"Does it have to do with Cedric?"

Judging by the way her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, it was safe to say, Fred had managed to hit the nail on the head.

"How did you-"

"Oh!" He exclaimed with a laugh. "It does? That was a complete shot in the dark. So, Marnie likes Cedric. Interesting."

He watched as Eleanor pulled at the ends of her hair and took a step closer to him. "You can't say anything!"

"I can't?"

Her hands grabbed the front of his shirt and began shaking him lightly. "Please, Fred, I'm begging you! You can't say anything to anyone. Not even to George. Please. I'll do anything."

"Anything, you say?"

"Oh no."

When Eleanor returned to the girls' dormitory, she entered the room with a blank expression on her face. Marnie, who had been resting on her bed, quickly pushed herself up to approach her with an apology.

"Oh Merlin, Ellie, are you okay?" she asked. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"It's alright, Marnie," Eleanor replied in a rather airy tone as she sat down on her bed, "Madam Pomfrey fixed me up in a heartbeat."

"I just freaked out because...well, you know."

"Yes, I know, Marnie. I know."

"Well, don't you worry, Ellie," Marnie said to her, " I'm going to make it up to you, I promise. For Valentine's Day, we'll just have a girls' day, just you and me. We'll go out to Hogsmeade together, buy a whole bunch of sweets, give each other makeovers, everything!"

With a faint smile, Eleanor looked up at Marnie, who was watching her with a rather hopeful look.

"It sounds lovely, Marnie, and I'd love to spend the day with you, but I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I already have a date."

"WHAT?!"

A little while later, Cedric waltzed into the Common Room to find his best friends settled by the fireplace. Eleanor seemed to be healed and all seemed to be forgiven as she and Marnie were talking amongst themselves. He made his way over, practically floating on cloud nine before he came to stand in front of them.

"Guess who has a date for Valentine's Day in Hogsmeade?" he sang.

Marnie peered up at him with a glare. "Ooh, I know, it's Ellie."

Cedric was prepared to correct her and inform Marnie that it was, in fact, he who had scored a date, but when what she said finally processed in his mind, he immediately looked over in Eleanor's direction. She avoided his gaze by focusing on her knitting, only to drop one of her knitting needles.

"Ellie? You have a date?"

"I have plans but it's not a-"

Before she could finish, Cedric leapt over the back of the sofa and squeezed his way in between the two of them, pushing Marnie aside.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, how the hell did I miss this?"

"Please don't make this into something it isn't," Eleanor said, "it's not even a date. I was just joking around earlier with Marnie when I called it that. I'm going to be going to Hogsmeade with Fred-"

"I KNEW IT!" Cedric exclaimed with a happy squeal. " I knew it! I knew it! I-"

"And George," Eleanor finished, watching the wave of confusion wash over his face.

"Wait, you're going on a date with both of them?"

"What? No!" she said. "For the love of Merlin, it's not a date! They just want me there to sell some stuff. That's all."

"But-"

"IT'S NOT A DATE!"

Cedric scooted away to avoid Eleanor's wrath, nearly placing himself in Marnie's lap as he put his hands up to defend himself. "Okay, okay, it's not a date."

"I don't even want to go," Eleanor lied, only to have it somewhat backfire as Marnie gave her a look.

"Well, if you don't want to go, why did you agree to it?"

With her eyes settling on Marnie briefly, Eleanor felt her breath hitch in her throat.

"I have my reasons, let's just leave it at that."