BREED:DIFFERENT -d.malfoy

why?

chapter thirty-nine; Why?

"STELLA, I SWEAR TO EVERYTHING HOLY IF YOU CRY ONE MORE TIME..."
Eli threatened his friend.

She sniffled.

He sighed in annoyance, "the dummy doesn't have any feelings!"

"But you don't know that!"

"Yes I do!"

"Maybe you should cast the spells on Eli," Hermione snickered.

Eli gasped dramatically, "Hermione! That doesn't seem like a very Hermione-thing to do!"

Stella stood straighter, and Eli readied himself. "Expelliarmus!"

The wand flew out of his hand, smacking into the back of Colin Creevey's head. He twirled around to look at them.

"I am so sorry!"

"Stella," Eli laughed, "you can't do that to kids younger than you."

"Shut up, you bitch."

"Such vulgar language."

Eli walked over to his wand, picking it up. "Alright. Do it again."

And she did, but this time the wand flew right into her stomach, knocking her down and taking the air from her. "Air." She gasped, "I need air."

Eli's laughter became a distraction to others, "God, you looked hilarious."

"How does that even happen? It just flew right into my stomach!"
Stella raised her hand, pinching her thumb and forefinger close, "I am this close to snapping your wand."

Eli retrieved it quickly, afraid that she'd given in to her temper and snap it. "Moving on..." then he urged her to get into the group.

Stella nudged Dean, "remind me to never anger her." She said as they watched Ginny turn the dummy into ashes.
There was a moment of silence when they all looked at her in awe, but they got over it.

"Am I expected to learn how to do that?" Seamus whispered next to her.

Stella turned her head in horror, "I hope not. You're worse than me."

Dean laughed into his hand, "she's right. She doesn't go around making explosions."

"No, that was only one time." She agreed.

Both boys looked at her. "When?"

"Well, Abraham dragged me out in the middle night near the Black Lake and asked me to roast him so marshmallows." She explained, "but it was an intentional fire. Also I burned down a mansion once."

Seamus moved away, looking at her warily. Dean laughed again and patted her on the back.

"So we practicing together or what?" Dean asked.

Stella grinned. It was the duo that was never expected.
"Okay, you first or me?"

"Me. I need more practice. And you've got an advantage being friends with Eli." He got into a stance.

Stella raised a brow. "Why do you look like you're about to lunge at me and pierce me with a sword? Just calm down, it's not that serious, my guy."

"Right."

"Anyways, I thought you were friends with Eli?"

Dean raised his wand, "no. That guy gives me the creeps. Like he knows my every move and he reacts to quickly. It's scary."

"He used to work in downtown as a Pikachu mascot..."

"Expelliarmus!"

Stella was thrown back three feet, "dude! I was so not ready!"
He replied with a sorry that didn't sound so apologetic. "Whatever. Can you go get a dummy? We can practice the duct tape spell."

"I'm not sure that's how you say it..." Dean mumbled as he walked towards a wizard dummy.

Stella propped herself up on her elbows, staring at the other groups. She whooped and whistled when Neville managed to correct the 'Expelliarmus' spell.

Dean came back with a two dummies following behind. "Got them."

"Great!"
Stella hopped up, speaking quietly to the dummy, giving it small commands like 'stand right there' and such. "Ready?"

Dean gave her a wide smile, "of course."

And at the same time, the two raised their wands and yelled, "Reducto!"

Dean was thrown back and Stella stumbled back, unbalanced.  But both dummies were reduced to ashes.
They shared a look with wide eyes and shocked expressions.

"Wow. We're so powerful together." She commented.

"Yeah..."

Stella broke out in a smile, high-fiving him. Before they could properly cheer that they succeeded at their first attempt, Hermione called everyone back.

"So that's it for this lesson." Harry said as everyone paid attention. Except for Stella. She has small attention span. Instead she played thumb war with Fred, and after she lost five times to him, she played sticks.

"Now, we're not gonna be meeting again until after the holidays." He announced, "so just keep practicing on your own as best as you can."

"I can't do shit by myself." She whispered.

Fred nodded, "yeah, I can see that."

She had the urge to punch him, because he agreed and because he was winning in sticks too.

"And well done, everyone. Great, great work."

Eli, who leaned on a pillar, added, "amazing work. Quite extravagant. Keep on kachow-ing." He gave them all a thumbs up and a smile.

Applause followed his comment. Everyone began to pile out of the room. Stella tugged on Harry's sleeve, "thanks Harry! Have a great Christmas, buddy."

"Um, yeah. Thanks, you too." And he continued to walk to the end of the room.

Eli pulled his satchel over his head, "how come I never get a thanks like that?"

"Because you're an asshole."

He snorted. "Whatever."

Stella sighed, running a hand across the wall as they walked. "What now?"

"Well. We're on the edge of a maybe-war. Christmas is around the corner. The Muggle world is awaiting our arrival." He listed, "and you've grown an extraordinary amount in just a few months." Eli tilted his head as he observed her, "that's an amazing feat you know."

"What is?"

"Being to do the Reducto spell moments after seeing it in action."

Stella nodded thoughtfully, "probably. But Dean did it too."

"But Dean wasn't left standing after it."

Eli stared at her, looking for something he didn't understand. "You're actually quite interesting."

He didn't understand. No matter how much he boasted about his ability to comprehend and cast a spell correctly, he never did get one right on the spot. It's what led his mother to inflict pain on him, to which she healed, only to cause him more pain later. Eli didn't hold it against his mother, despite what he said and thought, but he was still overly curious.

Curious as to why he was sent to care for Stella. And finally, after years of blindly following everything, he started questioning.

Why?